


Learn to Love Again | George Weasley

by LionWitch22



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Beauxbatons, F/M, Fluff, Fred Weasley Dies, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, George Weasley-centric, Grief/Mourning, Jealousy, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Romance, Sad George Weasley, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29646546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LionWitch22/pseuds/LionWitch22
Summary: "I wish I could have known him""He would have loved you"-Following the events of the Battle of Hogwarts, Eloise Laurent moved from France to live with her childhood best friend Fleur and her husband Bill at Shell Cottage. In doing so, she is quickly introduced to the entire Weasley family, including the heartbroken and uncharacteristically reserved George.Will the woman who never knew George before the death of his twin brother Fred be able to show him that it is possible to love after loss?
Relationships: Charlie Weasley/Original Female Character(s), Fleur Delacour/Bill Weasley, George Weasley/Original Female Character(s), Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Kudos: 14





	1. Cast

_"Little by little, we let go of loss... but never of love."_

  
• • •  
  


Freya Mavor as **ELOISE LAURENT**

  
  
  
  
  
Oliver Phelps as **GEORGE WEASLEY**

  
  
  
  
  


  
Elle Fanning as **VERITY STOKES**

  
Sam Heughan as **CHARLIE WEASLEY**

**  
** Clemence Poesy as **FLEUR WEASLEY**

**  
** Domhnall Gleeson as **BILL WEASLEY**

_• • •_   
  
  


_All other supporting characters portrayed by their original actors from the Harry Potter films_


	2. Prologue

  
_"Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality."_

_-Emily Dickinson_

The night of May 2, 1998 went down in Wizarding history as the night that Voldemort had finally been defeated. Numerous brave witches and wizards arrived at Hogwarts that night fighting for everything they believed in, the risk of harm did not prevent any of them from defending the castle from the evil that had befallen it. It was a battle 16 years in the making.

From the moment Harry Potter stepped foot back inside Hogwarts that night, everything had changed. Dumbledore's Army, The Order of the Phoenix, Hogwarts staff, and countless students joined together to fight the evil that had been looming over their heads since the Dark Lord returned in the graveyard during the final task of the Triwizard Tournament. These brave witches and wizards were fueled by hope and determination.

But the months following the Battle of Hogwarts was filled with immense grief and sorrow for everyone. What should have been a joyous time, a time of newly found freedom and safety was marred by the memories of the innocent lives lost at the hands of Death Eaters.

Even though the sky seemed to brighten and the warmth of Summer had returned, many people who were present at the battle left with their own personal clouds hanging over their heads.

Though many had lost friends and family that day, a part of George Weasley died when he lost his twin brother Fred. Seeing his brother lie motionless, his once sparkling and mischievous brown eyes were empty, the sight of him would be burned in George's memory forever. Fred's gaze was permanently locked on the ceiling of the Great Hall. It broke him.

His siblings and parents tried to comfort him in the moment, but the light inside George went dark. He screamed for his brother while his mother clutched him, tears streaming down her face. George heard nothing, not even his own cries. His ears were ringing, his heart was pounding, he felt as if he was going to die right there next to Fred.

"Fred _please!_ " he yelled, throwing himself over his twin's body. He was wailing in pain. He didn't want to go on, he couldn't go on without his brother.

-

The funeral was the following weekend. George had not spoken more than ten words to any of his family members in that time.

"Good morning, darling." Molly spoke softly as George had emerged from upstairs that morning. Ginny, Harry, and Arthur were already sitting at the kitchen table silently. All eyes were on George when he entered the room and sat next to his father, this was the first time he had come down from their... _his_ room.

"Mm." he responded to his mother who was already setting a warm cup of tea in front of him, as if reading his mind.

Ginny inhaled as if to say something to her brother but she felt a gentle squeeze on her hand from Harry who shook his head when she looked over at him.

George kept his eyes down, occasionally sipping his tea. But the tension in the room was getting to him. He set his tea cup down firmly and looked up at his family.

"Can you all please stop gawking at me?"

Immediately everyone's eyes diverted and they shifted awkwardly in their seats.

"We are all just worried-" Ginny whispered before George interrupted her.

"Well don't be. I'm fine." George said flatly, not meeting his sister's gaze.

Quickly regretting his decision to emerge from his room, he promptly finished his tea, kissed his mother on the cheek, and climbed his way back upstairs.

It was a beautiful Summer day, given the circumstances. Bill, Fleur, and Charlie had arrived in the early afternoon to help set up chairs out in the garden for their friends and family who would be joining them later to honor Fred's life.

More and more people began arriving at The Burrow. Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell arrived clutching to each other in support, Oliver Wood arrived shortly after them and joined them as they chatted about quidditch, sharing their funniest stories about Fred and laughing through the tears.

Minerva McGonagall and Hagrid had arrived together interlocking their arms as they made their way to their seats. Hagrid made his entrance known by blowing his nose loudly into a large handkerchief.

George gazed out his bedroom window down to the garden and dreaded what was to come. He didn't think he could handle it. He had completely shut down his emotions since the previous weekend. If he let himself grieve he was afraid he would never be able to function again. He had to bottle it up if he wanted any chance of going on with his life.

There was a soft knock on the door, "George darling, can I come in?"

"Yeah."

Molly entered the room and sat on the bed as she watched her son stand next to the window.

"Sit next to me dear."

George refused to look at his mother, he knew if he did he wouldn't be able to hold it together. He turned around and sat next to her, locking his eyes on the ground.

Molly rested her hand on George's knee, "I love you George."

At the sound of these words George broke down, he buried his head into is mother's shoulder and let out all the tears he had been holding in for the last week. She wrapped one arm around her son and with her other hand gently stroked his hair as she let him cry.

"I can't go down there. I can't do this mum. I can't say goodbye."

Molly's voice was shaky from her own tears now, "You know Freddie wouldn't want you to hide in here forever, darling."

He knew she was right but it was too painful to go down there. He would have to face all of their friends and family. They would try to give him their sympathy and offer their condolences. None of them could ever understand that when Fred died, he died too.

Molly gently patted him on the back, "It's time, George."

They stood up together and he instinctively grabbed Molly's hand. She gave it a gentle reassuring squeeze as they headed outside to say goodbye to Fred.

As he walked out into the Summer air, it felt so heavy to him. He knew he would truly never be himself again. He could never love again.


	3. Chapter One

_**  
June 1998** _

The Burrow, once bustling and warm, felt increasingly empty and cold lately which hurt Ron the most. He thought his siblings should be there and he was frustrated with all of them. It had only been a month and a half since Fred's death and he felt like everyone had completely abandoned his mum and George, leaving them to grieve on their own.

After frequent complaints to Hermione, she agreed to take a break from their travels to Australia for a while. They had been attempting to recover her parent's memories for the last week and they felt like they had been making some good progress, so it made Ron feel incredibly guilty when Hermione offered to return home with him. 

She had assured him countless times that she was fine to return to England for now, "It's important to be with your family, Ron. I can see how guilty you've felt since we left. We can come back to Australia soon, let's go home." Ron really admired her, she was incredibly selfless and compassionate.

The couple had arrived at The Burrow the previous evening. Molly cried tears of joy and pulled them both into suffocating hugs when they unexpectedly entered the front door. Hermione felt it was incredibly rude of Ron to not send an owl letting them know they would be visiting, but he brushed her off, he knew his mother wouldn't mind.

"You see how happy she is? Sending an owl would've ruined the surprise wouldn't it?" Ron said nudging Hermione with his shoulder as she rolled her eyes at him in response.

Though it was just Molly, Arthur, George, Hermione, and Ron in the house, Molly cooked a large meal for them as if it was a family Christmas. Their return to The Burrow had sparked a sense of joy inside Molly. They sat around the table late into the evening sharing some heartwarming stories, though George mostly listened rather than spoke. Things started to feel a little more normal again, even if it was only for a moment.

Hermione was the first one awake the next morning, it was a beautiful and warm Sunday. In the past Molly would have been the first one to rise, but she had grown used to sleeping in late recently. For years she was constantly putting all her energy into caring for everyone in the house, but now they all felt that she deserved the extra rest so there were never any complaints about not waking up to breakfast and a hot pot of tea.

Hermione felt as if the air inside the home was especially heavy recently and was suffocating all of them, so she opened the window to let some fresh air in before boiling water for her tea. She leaned against the counter behind her and closed her eyes, the only sounds in the kitchen were the sounds of birds chirping outside the window and the water boiling inside the kettle. Hearing The Burrow be so silent and calm was eerie to her, it certainly had changed.

She grabbed three mugs out of the cabinet and set them on the counter for the others in the house before taking one for herself. She poured the water into her mug and let the tea steep in the silence of the kitchen. 

She hadn't been sleeping very well between the stress of recovering her parent's memories and the sadness she felt for The Weasleys. She desperately needed the caffeine and once satisfied with the strength of her tea she picked up the mug and decided to go into the living room and read until everyone else woke up. On her way she passed by the clock in the hallway that had shown all of their locations and paused to look at it.

Hers and Harry's names were added at some point between their fourth and fifth year in school. Once Voldemort had returned during the Triwizard Tournament Molly was taking no more chances not knowing about Harry and Hermione's safety at all times, they were also her children as far as she was concerned. 

Ron, George, Molly, and Hermione's name were all sitting next to one another pointing towards "Home". But what caught Hermione's eye was that Fred's name was also pointed at home as well, but his name would stay there forever.

"The lot of them are gits, aren't they?"

The sudden voice behind Hermione made her jump and she spilt a bit of tea on the floor in response. "Ronald, when you enter a room could you please make a bit of noise first?" she scolded as she pulled her wand from her robe and waved it at the rug beneath her feet to clear up the tea that would have inevitably left a stain.

"What are you on about anyway?" she asked as she turned to face him, returning her wand to her robe pocket.

"None of them are ever here." he groaned gesturing vaguely in the direction of the clock.

"You know they still care, everyone grieves differently. " she reassured him and snaked an arm around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder. He grumbled and then laid a gentle kiss on the top of her head. Ron felt very differently about the situation than Hermione did but he didn't have the energy to argue with her about it, he too had been getting very little sleep over the last month.

They stood together silently gazing at the clock, though Hermione didn't point out Fred's name she knew Ron had noticed when she heard him sniffle and clear his throat. Together they looked around each section of the clock making mental notes of where every member of their family was right now.

Arthur and Percy spent most of their time, including many nights and weekends, at The Ministry as they attempted to clean up the mess created during The Battle of Hogwarts.

Bill and Fleur had been spending most of their time alone at Shell Cottage, despite Molly and Fleur's previous disagreements Fleur would grow frustrated with Bill's decision to not visit his family frequently enough anymore.

"You are being incredibly selfish, my love." she would tell him bluntly.

Harry and Ginny had been in London for the last week or so, looking for a flat for Harry. Even though it was safe again, 12 Grimmauld Place would never be a home for him, especially with the horrid portrait of Sirius's mother permanently stuck to the wall. 

He and Ginny had already been discussing moving in together when she finishes her last year at Hogwarts, so that's why he wanted her to come along and have a say in where he lives. Hermione felt that the two of them were taking things too quickly, to which Ron would respond by telling her their own relationship wasn't moving much slower. She scoffed at the suggestion, but she knew had they not been traveling then the two would already be living together.

Charlie was in Romania until they noticed his name had started to move, knowing it would shortly land on Diagon Alley. He had been flying back and forth between Romania and London for the last few weeks since he had decided to help reopen Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes with the help of Verity, but he still needed to tie up loose ends with the Dragon Sanctuary before he could move back to England permanently.

They heard footsteps behind them, so Hermione looked up at Ron who quickly wiped his eyes nonchalantly as if he were only suffering from allergies. When he looked down at her she gestured her head towards the kitchen and Ron nodded at her in silent agreement. They pulled away from each other and entered the kitchen where they found George sitting and staring out the window.

"Morning George, would you like a cup of tea?" Hermione asked, reaching for one of the mugs she had already set out. She had been trying her best to sound as normal as possible around him, she didn't know if George even cared but she didn't want to be another sad voice in his ears.

"No thanks."

Ron sat across from his brother, his head now blocking George's view of the window, causing him to blink his eyes and adjust to the light in the room. The two sat in silence for a moment while Hermione stood near the stove and looked back and forth between them, tapping on the side of her mug with her fingernails nervously. The air in the room was awkward and tense.

"Charlie and Verity have been doing a bang up job keeping things going at the store, you know." Ron said in an attempt to break the silence and make some light conversation.

"Yeah well, they can keep it. I'm not going back."

Ron sighed, "I know mum would love you to stay here forever, but we both know you can't do that. You don't have to work, maybe just a quick visit would do you some good."

Ron especially had been encouraging George to get back to work lately, believing it would help distract him. In every owl he had received from Ron over the last month it ended with "Have you changed your mind about visiting the store yet?" 

George missed the store, he couldn't deny that, but every inch of it reminded him of his brother. It was their dream to open up the shop together and a mere two years after accomplishing this Fred was taken from him. George couldn't even look at his own reflection without getting depressed, how could he possibly go back to the store they had built together?

"We could go today! Hermione and I will go with you." Ron offered and his girlfriend's eyes widened at the suggestion. 

She didn't want to push George into doing something he didn't want to do and didn't particularly appreciate being pulled into something that could upset him. She looked at the side of Ron's head hoping he would feel her eyes burning into it and glance her way just so she could shake her head no, and telepathically tell him what an idiot he was to suggest they take him there, but Ron's eyes were intent on George's face.

George didn't respond at first, he didn't even meet Ron's gaze. Instead he just looked down at his hands that were clasped together and resting on the table. He mindlessly twiddled his thumbs as he considered Ron's suggestion. 

He knew he couldn't avoid returning to the store forever, he already felt guilty that Charlie and Verity had been working so hard the last few weeks to get it back up and running without him. But he also knew that returning to the store would be the most painful thing he would do since his being at his brother's funeral. Maybe returning to the store could be the first step to return to a normal life, as normal as things could be when you no longer have your other half anyway.

Hermione inhaled ready to object to the idea when the silence became too deafening for her, but before she could speak George finally responded, "Alright."

Hermione let out a breath of relief and Ron beamed at his brother, "Great! After lunch then, we'll wait until mum is up and let her know we'll be out today."

"Okay."


	4. Chapter Two

"Oh, Ron what a lovely idea!" Molly exclaimed at the news that he and Hermione would be taking George to the store that afternoon. She grabbed the ginger boy's head, giving him several kisses all over his face.

"Mum, please..." he groaned, trying his best to pull away from his overbearing mother while Hermione giggled behind him.

She released him and gave him a warm smile, which he returned happily. Though Ron acted like he was annoyed by his mother, he secretly really appreciated how loving she was especially as he got older. 

Molly had been absolutely thrilled at the idea of them visiting the store and even though she'd be on her own in The Burrow for a majority of the day, the thought of being alone didn't concern her at all for the first time in a month. George agreeing to go back to the store gave her a bit of hope that he would be back to his old self eventually. Not immediately, she knew that, but eventually.

"If Charlie is there, do tell him to come to dinner would you? He's always flying back to Romania right after work, he never rests." Molly pleaded with Ron as they were about to head out the door.

"Sure, mum." Ron gave Molly a reassuring smile before turning to Hermione, "Any sign of him coming down yet?"

Hermione shook her head, "I haven't seen him since breakfast."

Ron let out a sigh, "I'll get him."

He climbed the stairs up to George's room. Ron remembered how loud that room had once been only a few years ago when Fred and George were in there inventing everything that would one day be sold in the shop. Now it stood completely silent with one half of the duo sulking inside. The memory gave Ron a painful feeling in his chest and he wondered how long it would be before the happy memories he had of his brother would stop hurting.

Ron knocked on the door, "George, you ready?"

There was no response. Ron ran a hand through his hair and exhaled, he was never good at this emotional stuff.

On the other side of the door George laid on his bed staring at the ceiling. This is how George had been spending most of his time lately. Being around his family was exhausting and looking around his childhood room and seeing Fred's items was depressing, so at the ceiling his eyes stayed.

Another knock came to the door a few moments later, "Come on mate, I'm sure Verity and Charlie will be glad to see you."

Ron heard footsteps approach the door and George emerged, refusing to acknowledge Ron's presence. Ron took a step back to let his brother exit the room while giving him a reassuring pat on the back. The two boys walked down the stairs to the entrance of the Burrow, George walking in front of Ron. When they reached the bottom they saw Hermione already standing by the door eager to get going.

She clapped her hands together when she saw them, "Ready then?" she said with a warm smile.

George rolled his eyes, "This is the most excited I've ever seen you to go and be around such mischief, Granger. It feels like only yesterday that you threatened us with detentions for our pranks you know."

Normally Hermione would have been dismissive of this comment, but it was the closest George had been to joking around with anyone. It was also the first time he mentioned Fred, though they all noticed he wouldn't say his name.

"Well, everyone needs a good laugh now and then don't they?" she responded softly.

"Yeah, I suppose." George shrugged.

The awkwardness had returned to the air. There was always tension around George, everyone was walking on eggshells around him. Hermione being so kind to him bothered him, he had almost wished she had said something smart back to him like she normal would, but instead she continued to be sickeningly sweet. Everyone made him feel broken, he knew he was, but the way people were treating him amplified those feelings tenfold.

"Uh, right then. Best be off. See you later today, mum." Ron turned to Molly, who had resumed cleaning the kitchen. The entire house was spotless, George, Hermione, and Ron knew this, but they didn't dare stop her. All she did when she was awake was clean and cook to distract herself from her grief.

She tore herself away from the dishes that continued to scrub themselves despite her abandoning them and planted a kiss on each of their cheeks, lingering a second longer with George. "Don't forget about Charlie." she pointed to Ron.

"Yeah, yeah, mum I know."

-

It was mid-afternoon when the three arrived at Diagon Alley. Things were bustling, though not with happy witches and wizards shopping and socializing, but with store owners who had returned to rebuild their shops. The scene was a beautiful metaphor for how things had changed in the month since the battle. 

Years ago Diagon Alley was bright and full of life, filled to the brim with happy and eager people doing their shopping and spending time with each other. Once the war started though, the street had been destroyed and looted, stores were burned and people were forced to flee from their livelihoods. Now, as the trio walked down the street and saw everyone come together happily to rebuild what had been taken from them, it put into perspective that maybe there could be a time where things would feel how they had before.

At the end of the street stood the tall purple building with orange window frames that they all recognized. It was one of only a handful of shops that had reopened in the last month. Charlie wrote to Verity shortly after the battle and asked her to come back to the store, he wanted to run it for George until he was ready to return. Charlie knew that even if George didn't want to work right now, he would hate himself if he let the store turn to ruins. So the two of them reopened the store the weekend after Fred's funeral and have been working every day since.

The three of them stopped just outside the door, Hermione and Ron stood on either side of George and waited for him to make the first move. Neither wanted to be pushy, it was a big step for him to even agree to come here in the first place. George took a deep breath in and reached for the handle. As the three of them stepped inside a bell chimed above the door and it felt almost like they had been taken back in time.

Everything looked just like it did before Fred and George had to shut down the store and go into hiding at their Great Aunt Muriel's house. The only noticeable difference was that there were much fewer customers browsing inside than before. There was the occasional "crack" and "boom" from items in various aisles, but nothing measuring up to the chaos that had once filled the store. Despite Voldemort's defeat, some people were so used to the idea of hiding that they hadn't yet made the transition back to normal life.

At the sound of the bell a petite witch with short platinum blonde hair and pixie-like features peeked out from one of the aisles "Welcome to Weasleys' Wizard-" she stopped herself when she realized who she was looking at. She fully emerged from the aisle and leaned casually on the shelf next to her. She crossed her arms and smirked as she looked up at George.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't George Weasley in the flesh? Now that you're back, does that mean I can have a day off?" the witch joked.

"I'm not here to work Verity." George spoke flatly. Though he was relieved to see that she wouldn't be another one to add to the list of people that were treating him differently.

"Oh, fine, fine. You know, I'm starting to think maybe I should be the boss around here. You've taken up all your vacation time you know, I may have to fire you." she winked at him.

"Oh is that so, and what makes you think you'd be the boss before Charlie? Wasn't it his idea to reopen the place?" George quipped back.

Verity had always been quick with a comeback, so he wasn't surprised at all when she said "Because Charlie is scared of me, he already knows I'm the boss."

"Oh yes, Charlie who isn't afraid of dragons but is terrified of Verity Stokes." George retorted sarcastically, though when he spoke to her there was more warmth his voice than there had been all month.

"I'd say I'm much scarier than a dragon, wouldn't you? Anyways, best get back to work, a boss needs to work hard you know. Let me know if you need help finding anything." she reached over to playfully punch George in the arm and winked at him before returning to the aisle she had come from.

George hadn't noticed that Ron and Hermione left his side while he was talking to Verity. He found them casually browsing the Nose Biting Teacups when another bell chimed at the door. Instinctively George turned to see who had entered the shop and saw his older brother Charlie carrying several boxes and having a difficult time making his way through the door.

"Give us a hand then." Charlie said when he met George's eyes, "If you're gonna come back to work the least you can do is not watch me struggle."

"I didn't come to work Charlie."

"Well you might want to consider coming back soon, Ver's been on the brink of overthrowing the place and calling it Verity's Vexing Varieties, she assures me the name is just a work in progress."

George rolled his eyes as he took a box from his brother, "What's all this?"

"Uh, it's just some extra inventory I got from Zonko's. We've nearly reached the end of the supply you and Fred had made on a few things. I thought it would be best to have these as a backup since I didn't know when you'd be back." Charlie was nervous at what his brother's response would be to selling things he and Fred hadn't invented in their shop.

"Alright."

" _Alright_?" the voice came from a few aisles away, Verity as usual had been listening in to a conversation she wasn't a part of.

"THE George Weasley is alright with selling this cheap rubbish in his store? He really is hopeless isn't he?" Verity continued as she found her way back behind the till, both hands cupping her face as she leaned on the counter watching them carry in the boxes.

"Ver!" Charlie hissed at her, throwing daggers from his eyes.

"It's alright Charlie." George assured his brother. The typical nosy and blunt attitude Verity had always had around him and Fred was refreshing to hear, so none of her remarks bothered him, it actually made him feel better in a strange way.

They set down the boxes next to the counter and George took his attention away from the two of them as Charlie began unpacking things and leaving to restock more shelves. George's full attention was now on the staircase that led up to the flat he and Fred shared together. 

Part of him wanted to go up there and take a look, but he knew it would be too painful. He spent two weeks sleeping on the couch in The Burrow before he felt ready to go into his childhood bedroom, but seeing the place he and Fred had lived in together only a few months ago would be much harder. If he saw any of Fred's clothes or scraps of parchment with product ideas written in his hand writing, George wouldn't be able to handle it.

Verity noticed George's gaze and she reached across the counter to grab George's hand, the gesture snapped his attention back to her as he looked into her mischievous blue eyes, but instead of the usual tone of whimsy in her voice she spoke softly, "We haven't been up there, you know. We left it just the way it was for when you're ready."

George nodded at her and gave her a sad smile. Ron and Hermione turned the corner and at the sight of them Ron cleared his throat,Hermione looked away pretending to be browsing something on the shelf next to her hoping they wouldn't think she had noticed. George and Verity quickly pulled their hands away from each other and George rubbed his hand on the back of his neck feeling incredibly uncomfortable while Verity smirked.

"Uh, I heard Charlie come in so I was going to let him know mum wants him to come to dinner." Ron said awkwardly, his eyes still shifting back and forth between the two of them before Hemione elbowed him in the side to make him stop.

"Oh yeah, he's down that way restocking shelves." George pointed the couple in the direction of his brother. He waited for them to leave before looking back to the girl behind the counter, "Ver, I think I'll come back to work some time next week."

She tilted her head and smiled at him, "I knew threatening to fire you would work."


	5. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't be writing Eloise or Fleur's accents in the way JK does, I don't think I would be able to do it consistently and I think it would take away from the dialogue. But both of them still have lovely French accents. 
> 
> This is a bit of a longer chapter, but it's finally the introduction to our main character! I hope you enjoy it!

**_July 1998_ **

The humid summer air filled Shell Cottage. Fleur was sitting at the kitchen table, leaning back in the chair lazily and fanning herself with the latest edition of The Daily Prophet. She had her blonde hair wrapped up loosely into a bun, held in place by her wand. She was wearing a flowy white summer dress in an attempt to feel more comfortable in the summer heat that had her feeling incredibly grumpy.

"My love, it is entirely too hot today." the blonde witch complained to her husband.

"I agree darling." Bill responded, straightening his tie and bending over to place a kiss on his wife's forehead.

Bill turned around to continue what he was doing and Fleur set down the newspaper, leaning forward to rest her chin on her hand as she watched him walk around the kitchen getting ready to go to work, a frown still plastered on her face. "I would gladly work if it meant getting out of this oven we call a house." she grumbled.

Bill laughed, "I assure you Gringotts has been very stressful in the last few months, turns out a war changes people's views on money and security, who knew? Besides, aren't you excited for Eloise to arrive today?"

Eloise is one of Fleur's closest friends. They met while studying together at Beauxbatons, and although Eloise was a year below her in school, the two were inseparable growing up. She was meant to be a bridesmaid in Bill and Fleur's wedding but her family forbid her from attending, saying it was far too dangerous for her to travel from France at the time. As most little girls do, they had many conversations about their wedding days while growing up. They would talk dreamily about the types of dresses they would wear and the flowers they would carry, so not being able to be together that day broke both of their hearts.

They hadn't been able to see each other since Fleur moved to England to work at Gringotts part-time during Eloise's last year of school. Though they haven't seen each other in person for several years, they were very consistent with sending letters to each other, even during the war for a while, which stressed Bill out. He would tell her that the owls could be intercepted to which Fleur would respond "I am not stupid enough to sign my name on these letters, William. Let the Death Eaters read my letters about recipes I am learning and the books I am reading, I do not care. Maybe they can be my pen pals too."

"I am excited to see her. But I hope she is not late, she was always terrible about arriving on time. It is truly one of her worst traits." she mused. Fleur has always been incredibly blunt, it was one of the things that caused tension between her, Molly, and Ginny when Bill first brought her to the Burrow to meet his family. Though her honesty has always been one of Bill's favorite things about her.

"Speaking of being late, I better get going. I'll be home around 5:30 this evening." he put a hand under her chin and tilted her head up to give her a kiss.

"Have a good day, my love."

-

Eloise was due to arrive at Shell Cottage at 10:30 that morning, but Fleur was correct about her friend, Eloise had not outgrown her infamously horrible time management. It was quarter to 11 when Fleur heard the unmistakable sound of someone apparating outside her front door. Rather than waiting for Eloise to knock on the door, Fleur rushed outside to greet her.

"You are late." Fleur said with a warm smile on her face.

"You were foolish to expect anything differently. To be fair, I am only fifteen minutes late. It could have been much worse."

Eloise dropped her trunk at her feet and they both rushed forward pulling each other into a tight embrace, kissing each other on the cheek. Fleur pulled away and placed her hands on the sides of Eloise's face, turning her head to each side as she took in the sight of the friend she hadn't seen for three years.

"You have not changed a bit. Tu es très belle, mon amie." Fleur smiled and placed another kiss on Eloise's cheek.

Eloise had long wavy golden blonde hair with soft facial features, she had round cheeks speckled with freckles and full rosy lips. She was a stark contrast to her friend who had thin elegant features and straight icy blonde hair. Fleur always told Eloise that she had a friendlier face than her, Eloise would respond by saying that she was a friendlier person than her, which would make both of them laugh.

Fleur finally released her friend from the embrace and pulled her wand from her hair, causing the blonde locks to fall gracefully around on her shoulders. She daintily waved her wand at Eloise's trunk which began floating towards the house, "Let me show you to your room."

The two walked into the house and Eloise immediately fell in love, she thought it was even more bright and beautiful than Fleur had described it in her letters. Fleur led her upstairs and showed her to a room with floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the ocean. Fleur set Eloise's trunk on the bed and turned to see that Eloise was completely captivated by the view.

"Thank you for staying with us. Since Bill has started going back to work it has been difficult to sit at home alone. I feel quite anxious on my own, so I'm glad you will be here with me while he is gone." Fleur said as she walked to stand next to her friend, gazing out at the ocean with her.

Eloise grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, "I have missed you so much, I am happy to be here with you." They both turned to face one another and gave each other a warm smile.

It was actually Bill who had suggested that she invite Eloise to live with them so she wouldn't be alone, Fleur felt anxious about the idea. How could she be expected to ask her friend to drop everything and move to a different country only a few months after the war finished? She felt guilty but Bill told her she would never know how Eloise would react unless she tried.

A week after Fred's funeral Fleur grabbed her quill and a scrap piece of parchment from Bill's office and wrote the letter to her friend in France. She knew the grief of losing her brother-in-law and watching her husband and his family be in such pain was the main reason she finally got the courage to invite her friend to live with them. Her family was falling apart and she selfishly needed more support.

Fleur, fueled by strong emotions, sent the owl without a second thought. It was days before she received a response and the longer she waited the more foolish she felt. She knew it was too much to ask for someone to abandon the life they had built, especially just because she was feeling weak. 

Five days later as she was washing dishes near the open window in her kitchen, an owl dropped a small roll of parchment on the sill. Fleur quickly dried her hands, anticipating a simple _"No."_ on the inside of the letter. Her heart was racing with anticipation, but to her joy and surprise, Eloise's response was short and sweet.

_"Fleur,_

_I will be there on July 12th at 10:30 am._

_All my love,  
Eloise"_

"Elle, why did you so willing come here for me?"

Eloise didn't respond right away, she turned away from Fleur and crossed her arms, looking back out the large windows of her new bedroom. As she watched the waves crash into the shore, she pondered why she had agreed to drop everything and give up her life back home.

The truth was that Eloise had initially not wanted to come live with Fleur at all, it would have been much easier to say no. Eloise had just started working in a magical bookshop near her parent's house and she was quite comfortable continuing to live near her family for the foreseeable future, especially considering everything that had been going in the world on over the last few years. 

But Eloise knew she had bigger dreams than that. When she was in school she had ambitions to work at the Ministry of Magic. Specifically in the in the Department of International Magical Cooperation, just as her father had done years ago. 

Originally the idea of working there was incredibly romantic to her, as her parents had met while her father was working on an assignment in France one summer. They were completely smitten right away and the rest is history. But as she continued through school, her ambitions grew and she continued to try to get top marks in hopes of working in the International Magical Office of Law, she didn't want to recreate her parents' love story like she had dreamed to when she was a little girl, she wanted to help make an impact on the Wizarding world.

But as the war progressed, and the Ministry of Magic became corrupt and evil she slowly let go of the dream she had worked for all throughout school. Instead upon graduating she considered applying to teach at Beauxbatons, but never committed to the idea. With no direction in life she worked dead-end jobs like the one she currently had at the bookstore. 

But when Fleur's letter came, Eloise saw it as a sign. While she did want to say no, because change is incredibly scary and difficult, she ultimately agreed to move. Partly because she knew her friend desperately needed her through this traumatic time her family was going through, and partly because this was a chance for Eloise to take back control of her own life and pursue something that will make her happy.

As Fleur waited for a response her brows furrowed and she had a pained look on her face as if she was expecting Eloise to say that she had regret coming.

"I wasn't going to say yes, originally." Eloise replied, finally turning to face her friend who now had a surprised and slightly hurt look on her face.

Eloise continued, "I won't lie to you, I had to think about it. I was leaning towards no at first, I was scared to leave my life and parents behind. That's why it took me so long to reply. But I needed to put my own fear aside. I remembered the letters you had sent to me through the war, about how scared you were about losing a loved one and after your brother-in-law, well-" she cut herself off feeling it was inappropriate to bring up Fred right now, "You need me, and I need you. Ultimately agreeing to come here was very simple, even though I was almost too scared to."

Fleur quickly pulled Eloise into a tight hug, "Thank you. I know it was a lot to ask, I just-" Fleur stopped herself as she felt her voice get shaky as she fought the grateful tears that were desperately trying to form in her eyes, "Thank you."

-

Fleur offered to cook Eloise her favorite meal that evening. Fleur had not been known to set foot in a kitchen until she married Bill, and even then she was a terrible cook until very recently. It was a result of being bored while in hiding and the slew of previous passive aggressive comments from Molly that Bill wasn't eating enough that motivated Fleur to pick up the skill.

Though she felt like she had grown to be competent in the kitchen, she had secretly wished that Eloise's favorite meal was something a little more simple than chicken confit. She was pointing her wand around various cabinets and utensils in the kitchen, the knife was peeling and chopping potatoes by itself on the island behind her as she was skimming over the page in her recipe book with her brows furrowed in concentration.

With her eyes still focused on the book, she pointed her wand over her shoulder to retrieve a pot from a cabinet on the opposite wall. Returning from work right at that moment, Bill walked in the door and was greeted by a large pot flying straight towards his head, "Woah!" he said while ducking quickly to avoid getting hit.

"Oh I am sorry, my love. My mind is all over the place." Fleur said, barely paying attention to her husband as the pot landed on the counter beside her, quickly being filled with ingredients.

Bill stood upright and straightened out his tie, "Uh, do you need any help darling?" he asked while looking around at the chaos ensuing in their kitchen.

"No, no, I have already banished Elle to the living room. She tried to ask me three separate times if I wanted help, I had to threaten her with a knife before she took no for an answer." Fleur laughed with her back still turned to her husband

Bill was thoroughly frightened of his wife in this particular moment, "Right then, I think I'll go introduce myself." he said promptly evacuating from the kitchen.

Eloise was reading a book by the open window in the living room when Bill entered, she was too enthralled with the sounds of the ocean and the story she was reading to notice him at first. He cleared his throat to grab her attention, as he set his blazer down over the armchair nearest to him. Eloise brought her head up to see the tall ginger man stood before her, she recognized him immediately from the wedding photo Fleur had sent to her last summer. 

She closed her book and set it down on her lap before smiling up at him, "Good evening, Bill." Eloise had heard so much about Bill in Fleur's letters that she felt as if she already knew him and therefore didn't need a stuffy formal introduction.

He chuckled, "Hello, Eloise. I suppose it would be silly to introduce ourselves wouldn't it? I assume you have heard as much about me as I have about you."

Bill took a seat in the arm chair he had dropped his blazer across moments before and Eloise nodded at him. "It will be interesting to figure out exactly how much we already know about each other." Eloise smirked.

"Well, let's see," Bill started, crossing his ankle over his knee and leaning back into the chair, "You met Fleur during your first year at Beauxbatons, she was in her second year. Your father is British and your mother is French, you are an only child but Fleur says you used to tell other students that you were sisters. You were too young to go to Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament but you told Fleur that you'd fly straight to Hogwarts immediately if you didn't hear from her after each task to let you know that she was still alive. Oh, and you're rubbish at flying according to Fleur, so that plan would have never worked."

Eloise laughed and nodded, "Yes that is all true." She set the book on the coffee table in front of her, and brought her legs up on the couch so she was sitting crossed legged, angled towards Bill.

"Now let's see how much I know about you." she said with a smirk.

"Go on then." he smiled.

Eloise unlocked the mental filing cabinet she had that stored information Fleur had told her over the years about Bill, "You are a Curse-Breaker at Gringotts, but you worked a desk job there for a while which is how you and Fleur started dating. You are seven years older than Fleur, which her mother was not pleased about initially but she came around when she met you. Her mother thinks you are a complete gentleman. You were attacked by a werewolf a few years back, but are still just as handsome as ever according to Fleur, and I agree. And you are the oldest of seven children, You, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and then Ginny."

Bill wasn't expecting to hear Fred's name in his very first conversation with Eloise, he figured it would be a long while before they would discuss him, if at all. Bill had barely discussed Fred with Fleur since everything had happened. Despite being taken aback by the mention of him, he didn't realize how much he would appreciate that she didn't exclude him from the list of his siblings. Just because he is gone doesn't make him any less of his brother, and that thought felt comforting to him even if she hadn't meant anything by it.

"Dinner is ready!" Fleur called from the kitchen.

At the sound of Fleur's voice Bill brought his attention back to Eloise as he stood up from the armchair and gestured towards the kitchen door with his arm, "After you."

Eloise stood from the couch and placed her feet in the slippers that she had tucked under the coffee table when she came into the room to read earlier in the evening. She made her way towards the kitchen before stopping next to Bill. She looked up at him and whispered, "If she destroyed the kitchen I promise I will help her clean it up, it has sounded like a war zone in there all evening."

Bill laughed as he followed her into the kitchen, he felt happy for Fleur to have a friend like Eloise in the house, and happier to know that it felt like he already had a friend in her as well.


	6. Chapter Four

On the Monday after visiting the shop with Hermione and Ron, George woke up well before the sunrise. He had been having terrible insomnia for the last few months, but the anxiety of going back to work for the first time later that day only made it worse. He strained his eyes in the dark room that was only lit by moonlight to try and see the clock hanging on the wall near the door.

4:45 am

"Great." George mumbled to himself, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to get rid of the tired feeling to no avail. He threw the covers aside and swung his feet over the edge of the bed planting them firmly on the wooden floor below. Though he had told himself plenty of times that it was impossible to ever feel more tired than he had been feeling since May, he realized this morning that he was wrong. Today was by far the most tired he had ever felt in his entire life.

He sat on his bed for several minutes, trying to find any ounce of motivation he could just to get his body to stand up, but he was failing miserably. He thought to himself that maybe it would be best to skip work today and try to catch up on his sleep, he knew Charlie would be more than understanding, but he'd never hear the end of it from Verity if he didn't show up. Avoiding Verity's wrath was just the push George needed to finally get out of bed.

George walked lazily through his bedroom at the Burrow. He continued staying at his childhood home despite it making more sense logistically for him to be staying in the flat above the shop. He wasn't emotionally ready to continue staying there though, it was a big enough leap for him to agree to return to work to begin with. Quietly opening the door, he made his way across the hall to the bathroom, carefully avoiding all the floorboards that he knew creaked when stepped on.

George turned on the water in the shower and the tired feeling lingered as he waited for the water to warm up, he turned on the sink and splashed cold water on his face trying to shock himself awake. He reached for the towel hanging next to the mirror and quickly put it over his face to dry it off, careful to avoid looking at himself in the mirror. As a result of losing his brother he had grown a hatred for seeing his own face, so he formed a habit of avoiding his own reflection at all costs. Any time he saw himself, he saw Fred too which made him feel depressed.

He hastily undressed, lazily tossing his pajamas off to the side, creating a pile on the floor. Usually he made a mental note to pick them up later so Molly wouldn't yell at him, but he had a feeling that she wouldn't yell at him even if he did leave his clothes on the floor. She had been treating him like he was fragile and couldn't take the nagging he had endured for twenty years already. The thought was almost enough to tempt him into leaving his dirty laundry laying where it was and provoking his mother, he'd much rather be yelled at than be babied.

He stepped into the warm water and made a point to make it quick. If he took too long of a shower he'd end up thinking too much and he was doing his best to suppress most of the thoughts that would upset him. He gave himself a firm 10 minute time limit when it came to showers because of this. Once finished, he turned off the water and grabbed the towel on the hook just outside of the curtain and wrapped it around his waist. Before leaving the bathroom he picked his pajamas up off the floor, deciding he'd rather not be another source of stress for his mother after all.

-  
  


By the time George finished showering and getting dressed the sun had started to rise, filling the house with a cool blue tinted light. Of course no one else in the house was awake yet, it was only just past five. While he missed the luxury of being able to sleep in, he did appreciate the alone time he got while everyone was still sleeping.

George, already dressed in his Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes uniform, made his way into the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. While he was useless when it came to cooking, he was confident in his ability to boil water without setting the kitchen on fire.

He stood at the sink and gave a big yawn while filling the kettle with water before setting it on the stove to heat up. While he waited he brought his attention to the window just above the sink and gazed out into the garden. The homemade Quidditch hoops his dad made years ago for his siblings to play together still stood, despite all of them now being grown and for the most part moved out of the house. Though every single family gathering almost always ended in a game of Quidditch no matter how old they were or what the occasion, he remembered the last time they all played together, it was the evening before Bill and Fleur's wedding.

_"Fancy a game of Quidditch, Mr. Delacour?" George asked, elbowing his eldest brother in the ribs._

_"If one of you lot aims a bludger at my face and bruises it before the wedding, Fleur will kill me and then you two." Bill rolled his eyes._

_"You'd think she could overlook a little black eye if she can see past the makeover Greyback gave you." Fred teased._

_Bill wasn't amused by this comment, "I don't trust either of you."_

_"How's this, I'll be on your team and just aim straight for Georgie the entire time so he can't hit you. It's the least I can do to protect the precious groom before his big day." Fred said honorably._

_Bill rolled his eyes at his twin brothers, "Fine then, who are the teams?"_

_"Me, you, Charlie, and Gin. Then Georgie you can have Harry, Ron, and Hermione." Fred replied to Bill and smirked over at George._

_"I know what you're doing Fred." George said with a slight tone of annoyance. He didn't think his team was the worst, because of course Harry was an amazing player, but Ron wasn't always the best keeper and Hermione was too afraid of getting hurt to play aggressively enough to be chaser. Fred had obviously given himself the superior team roster on purpose._

_"What? I need the dream team for the groom's protection!" Fred responded trying to hold back a mischievous grin._

George's attention was brought back from his memory when the kettle started whistling loudly, startling him slightly. He removed the kettle from the heat quickly, trying to avoid stirring anyone in the house. He grabbed a cup from the cupboard, deliberately avoiding the Nose Biting Teacups he and Fred had snuck in there ages ago. They had been waiting patiently for the morning that someone would be too tired to notice they had chosen the wrong cup but living with the twins for 20 years taught his family to always be vigilant on the lookout for pranks.

As he poured his tea and sat down at the table, looking forward to a quiet morning alone, Charlie loudly barged into the kitchen through the back door, leaning his broom against the wall and pulling off his boots.

"Mornin' George" Charlie said casually, nodding to his brother before walking across the kitchen to grab a cup from the cabinet, helping himself to some tea as well.

"Morning." George responded, thinking to himself that he should have known better than thinking he could have a chance at a quiet morning in the Burrow.

"You're up early." Charlie said, plopping down in the chair across from George.

"Couldn't sleep, you're up early as well."

"I'm used to early mornings ever since I started helping at the store, flying from Romania doesn't happen instantly you know. Plus I needed to leave a bit earlier today since I was stopping by here first. I'm always tempted to apparate though, but mum says I'll lose my head if I try apparating that far." Charlie said, before taking a long sip of his tea.

"How much longer are you going to be doing that?" George asked, feeling guilty that his brother was constantly flying back and forth on his behalf to work in the store.

"Should be done by the end of the week I think, I've just been training the new bloke so he doesn't burn his eyebrows off or lose an arm."

"Are you alright leaving the Sanctuary? You love it there." George asked, he was ready to tell Charlie he could keep his job. He was sure he could handle the store with just Verity if Charlie didn't want to stay.

Charlie raised an eyebrow at his brother while taking a sip from his mug, he set down his cup and let out a sigh, "Listen George, I was always going to move back regardless of the store so you can stop worrying about that. I love Romania, but our family comes first and after Fred-" he cut himself off and cleared his throat to fight back the emotions that were welling up inside him, "Just don't worry alright?"

George nodded, "Alright then."

"Plus working at the shop is fun, and Verity and I get on really well."

"Oh really?" this piqued George's interest because Verity was a lot to handle, she had a personality that matched Fred and George perfectly, she was just as chaotic and mischievous as them and that's why they hired her. But George knew that she wasn't everyone's cup of tea.

Charlie nodded and smirked, "Hated her at first, thought she was annoying. But she grows on you, kind of like a tumor you can't remove."

This comment got a chuckle from George and Charlie was feeling quite proud of himself for amusing his brother. By the time they both finished their tea it was quarter to six so Charlie excused himself to have a quick shower and change into his own Weasley's Wizard Wheezes uniform.

George heard steps coming from the stairs and still heard the shower running so knew it couldn't be Charlie, Molly turned the corner into the kitchen and stopped suddenly in the doorway. At the sight of George in his work uniform she had tears in her eyes and she was making her way towards him with her arms stretched out.

"Mum please-" but before George could finish his sentence Molly was fully in tears and engulfing him in a tight hug, almost knocking him out of his seat.

"Oh darling, I'm so glad you're going back to work!" Molly cried into his hair as he reluctantly patted her on the back.

George wished his mother wouldn't make such a fuss over it, especially since he was just trying to get back to his normal life. Whatever normal was without Fred. His mother reacting as if him going to work was the best thing to happen to her made him feel very not normal. A few moments later Charlie arrived in the kitchen to see his mother's theatrics and George looked up at him with an urgent look in his eyes that Charlie recognized as a cry for help.

"Alright mum, let him breathe." Charlie came over and gently pulled Molly off of George and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, partially to comfort her and partially to hold her back from lunging at George again.

George straightened his tie and caught his breath as he stood up to look at the clock above the stove, "Best get going right Charlie?"

"What? We don't need to leave for another-" Charlie started, but cut himself off when he saw George's eyes that were sending silent daggers in his direction. George didn't want to stay in the house any longer and give anyone else in their family a chance to make a big deal out of him going to work.

"Oh, right yeah. We need to get there early for that thing." Charlie corrected himself clumsily as he turned to his mother and planted a quick kiss on her cheek before stepping towards the door.

Molly looked between the boys quite confused but before she could object to them leaving George walked over to also give her a kiss on the cheek, "See ya, mum." he turned his back quickly and pushed Charlie out the door.

"Smooth, Charlie." George said, rolling his eyes at his brother's terrible excuse. " _'For that thing'_ " he said in a mocking tone.

"You put me on the spot!" Charlie whined.

"Let's just go before she comes outside and tries to tackle me to the ground." George said, and the two of them quickly apparated to Diagon Alley.

-

George and Charlie apparated inside the shop suddenly with a loud _crack_.

" _Bloody hell!_ " Verity shouted as the boys suddenly appeared in front of her. She dropped a box of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder in the process and the three of them were suddenly engulfed in a thick cloud of black smoke.

"Sorry Ver! Good thing this will dissipate in a minute or so, let me just try to go and grab the broom to clean this up after." Charlie said, attempting to walk through the darkness.

"Ow, that was my foot Charlie!" Verity shouted

"Oh sorry, love." he responded, clumsily walking around the store in the dark bumping into several shelves in the process.

Verity's face was burning red in response to Charlie's sudden new nickname for her, the cloud of darkness started to fade and she found herself face to face with George who undoubtedly saw her blushing. George gave her a little smirk, but said nothing to her.

"You shut your mouth Weasley!" she growled at him.

"I didn't say a word." George said, throwing his hands up in surrender.

"Here we are!" Charlie said, returning with the dustpan and broom, he noticed Verity staring intensely at George, "What's going on here?"

"Nothing!" George and Verity said at the same time.

"Alright then." Charlie said in a drawn out voice, making it clear he didn't believe them, before he bent down to clean up the mess Verity had made.

"Why are you guys so early anyway? I didn't expect you for another hour." Verity asked.

"Mum was about to murder George with love so we had to make a quick escape." Charlie said from the floor.

Verity looked up at George who merely nodded in agreement.

"Well whatever, you two can handle restocking since you're here now. I'm going to go make some tea." Verity said before turning on her heel and leaving the two Weasley boys on their own on the sales floor.

"She really does think she runs the place doesn't she?" George said, raising an eyebrow as he watched her walk away.

"I told you she was planning a hostile takeover." Charlie said as he stood up holding the box of loose Instant Darkness Powder, "Suppose this is rubbish now?"

George looked down at the box of powder that was now contaminated with dirt from the wood floor it had just been swept up off of, "Yeah bin it, we can just deduct it from Verity's paycheck." he smirked at Charlie who laughed in response.

"Oh she'll be livid when she hears that."

The rest of the day was quite uneventful, George was surprised that he fell back into the groove of the store so quickly but he figured it was just like riding a broom, once you learn you never forget. He was also impressed with how well Charlie was doing with the customers, he figured after working with dragons for years Charlie wouldn't be much of a people person but he was upselling customers just as much as George was.

Before George knew it, they were nearing closing time and he was counting the till when Verity came up to him and slammed her hands on the counter. George merely glanced up at her, "Yes, Verity?"

"What's this about docking my pay for the Darkness Powder?" she demanded.

George looked over her shoulder and saw Charlie keeping his distance, mouthing the word "Sorry" when the two of them made eye contact. George looked back to Verity and said, "We had to bin it, you dropped it, so that's how it is." before looking back down to the till to continue counting.

"Well I wouldn't have dropped it if you gits hadn't scared me!" She shouted.

George was thoroughly amused with Verity's outburst, he had never really intended on docking her pay, but Charlie telling her that he would set him up for some much needed entertainment.

"Sorry, Ver. That's just how it is." George said, fighting to hold back a smirk as he kept his eyes on the till. He lost count the second Verity slammed her hands on the counter but he wanted to pretend that he was very uninterested in what she had to say, he knew it would rile her up.

She huffed in frustration and spun around to glare at Charlie before rushing up to him, causing him to back up into the shelf behind him in fear.

"This was your idea wasn't it?" She said pointing a finger in his face. She was standing so close to him, George thought Charlie may knock the shelf over if he tried to back up any further. Though she was about a foot shorter than Charlie, Verity was twice as intimidating.

"Why me?" Charlie asked panickedly, looking over to George for help who merely shook his head and shrugged his shoulders with a wicked grin forming on his lips.

She noticed Charlie looking over he shoulder and whipped around to see George, who was now quickly trying to wipe the grin away from his face and return to counting. She groaned in frustration, "I hate both of you, I'm going home." she said before stepping back from Charlie, giving him one last glare before leaving, the bell above to door signaled to Charlie that he was finally safe.

Charlie let out the breath he was holding and returned his attention to George, "She's going to murder me one day, I know it."

George merely shrugged at his brother, "Probably."


	7. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long one, but it's the chapter that George and Eloise are finally meeting for the first time, so I got carried away! I am so excited to start delving into their relationship, I hope you all are excited as well!
> 
> Also, I wanted to let you all know that this is the last chapter that I have written ahead. I first began posting this story on Wattpad before deciding to crosspost to AO3. So from now on this story will be updated at the same time on both sites. That means rather than daily updates, new chapters will probably more likely be posted every 2-3 days.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

It had been about five days since Eloise arrived at Shell Cottage and she was already feeling right at home. In the mornings she was often the first one to wake up, though she never dared start breakfast. Eloise had attempted to make Bill and Fleur breakfast on her first morning in the house and in the middle of her stirring together the waffle batter Fleur rushed in and shooed her out of the kitchen, telling her that she would finish making breakfast. Fleur had always been a bit of a control freak, even when they were children, but Eloise knew better than to argue with her.

This morning Eloise was sitting on the couch nearest the bay window in the living room reading a book. That spot quickly had become her favorite, it faced away from the sun so it never got too bright and when the window was open it was in the ideal spot to send a lovely ocean breeze through the entire room.

Fleur emerged from upstairs wearing a dressing gown and her hair was gathered in a messy bun on top of her head. Even without trying she was inhumanly gorgeous. She let out a long yawn before breezing right past Eloise, without noticing her, as she entered the kitchen. Eloise placed her bookmark in her book with a smirk before she set it down on the table and decided to join her friend in the other room.

"Good morning Fleur." Eloise said, leaning against the doorframe with an amused grin.

The sound of Eloise made Fleur jump, "How long have you been here?" she asked.

"I just came in, you walked right by me in the living room and didn't even notice." Eloise laughed.

"Ah, sorry. I didn't sleep very well." Fleur said with another yawn as she grabbed the kettle and turned to the sink to fill it.

"Why is that?"

"We are meant to be having dinner with Bill's family this evening and I have been dreading it." Fleur groaned, setting the kettle on the stove.

Eloise knew that Fleur hadn't made the best first impression on Bill's family, but that was years ago and she thought they all got along now.

"Why are you dreading it?" Eloise asked.

"It is just so depressing, I want to make them feel better but I never know what to say. Everything I say seems to make it worse." Fleur sighed.

Fleur had never been the greatest when it came to dealing with emotional situations, she was often too honest for people rather than sympathetic. Eloise could already picture Fleur telling her in-laws that life will go on without Fred, and while she wasn't wrong, Eloise could feel herself growing uncomfortable just imagining the reaction the Weasleys would have to a remark like that. Fleur had poured herself a cup of tea before filling another mug and setting it at the table across from where she now sat.

Eloise got the hint and joined her friend at the table, they sat together silently drinking their tea just enjoying each other's company when Fleur suddenly set down her cup firmly and looked at Eloise intently. At the sound of the porcelain hitting the table Eloise met Fleur's gaze, but felt thoroughly confused by her urgency.

"Yes?" Eloise asked cautiously.

"Come with us!" Fleur said with an innocent grin.

"I'm sorry?"

"To dinner, come with us."

"Oh, I don't know Fleur, I've never met them it would be awkward I think-" but before she could finish her sentence Fleur was already getting up from the table.

"I'm going to tell Bill. Oh, and we will also be stopping by George's store today as well." Fleur declared before elegantly walking out of the room, obviously ignoring her friend's objection.

Eloise sat at the table dumbfounded and feeling thoroughly confused by what had just happened. Somehow within mere seconds she had just gotten roped into meeting a family who were in the middle of grieving and probably had no interest in meeting a random woman, and she had no say in the matter at all. This was just like Fleur though, once she decided on something, it would be next to impossible to get out of it.

-

The thought of meeting the Weasleys had Eloise feeling incredibly anxious that afternoon, she decided she needed to get out of the house so she walked down to the beach. Kicking off her sandals, she waded into the cool water, the waves crashing against her legs calmed her. She pulled her cardigan tightly around her torso and crossed her arms, fighting against the strong ocean breeze. She was staring out into the water, thinking about nothing but how far away the horizon was when she suddenly heard a voice behind her.

"Alright there Elle?"

Eloise spun around and saw Bill, standing further up the beach casually watching her with his hands in his pockets.

"Just a lot on my mind." she said, wading out of the water and slipping her feet back into her sandals.

He chuckled, "Yeah, I figured. Fleur told me about this morning. You don't have to come if you don't want to, but I would like you to meet everyone."

"Oh Bill, I don't know. I don't want to intrude."

Bill approached her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You're like family to Fleur, which means you're like family to me. I won't pressure you, of course. But I promise you they won't mind, you'll have to meet them eventually. If it makes you feel better, I feel like my mum will love you." he said with a reassuring smile.

Though they had only just met a few days ago, Eloise was already starting to feel like Bill was a brother to her. He was such a great balance to Fleur, while she was blunt and independent, he was incredibly patient and sympathetic. She knew whenever they decided to have children, they would be the best parents.

Eloise stood there for a while weighing her options. Her eyes found their way back to the ocean and she let out a sight before turning back to Bill, "Alright I'll go."

"Excellent. We're going to be visiting George and Charlie in about an hour, you'll absolutely love the store." Bill said with a warm smile and mischievous light in his eyes.

Eloise had heard that Fred and George opened a joke shop a few years ago, Fleur had written to her about it around the time the twins had their grand opening. Fleur made it sound rather chaotic, but she praised the boys for turning something she considered annoying into a successful business, telling Eloise that they were both geniuses despite their childish behavior that she was not always a big fan of.

-

At around 3pm, Bill, Fleur, and Eloise made their way to Diagon Alley, apparating just outside of The Leaky Caldron. Eloise had only been to Diagon Alley a few times in her life, when she and her parents had visited her father's family over the holidays. Eloise had always loved it and wished she could have visited more, the cozy rustic feeling of the street contrasted greatly with the main wizarding shopping area in Paris which was quite posh and elegant in comparison.

The three of them made their way down the cobblestone street, weaving through various other witches and wizards who were doing their shopping. Eloise was taking in the details of every store, making mental notes of all the shops she wanted to visit the next time they could return.

She wanted to visit Flourish and Blotts to browse the books, she assumed that the selection would be much different than in the bookstore in France that she had worked in a few months ago and was curious what she would find. Next she spotted Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor and excitedly thought of all the lovely flavours they would have to offer, Eloise had always had quite the sweet tooth.

Before long they neared the end of the street and came upon the unmistakable storefront of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Eloise felt a wide grin forming on her lips at the sight of the giant wizard she assumed to be modelled after one of the Weasley twins lifting his hat to reveal a rabbit that would vanish the next time he lifted it.

"Well, this is it." Bill said, pushing open the door and stepping to the side for Fleur and Eloise to enter before him.

At the sound of the bell above the door, a petite young witch standing behind the counter greeted them, "Welcome to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes." but at the sight of Bill entering behind Fleur she grinned widely.

"Oi Charlie, the handsome Weasley just walked in!" the blonde witch turned to call behind her, yelling in the general direction of whichever aisle Charlie was restocking at that specific moment.

This comment about her husband didn't sit right with Fleur who whispered to Eloise, "I have never liked her. She is always flirting with all of them, I think she is just waiting for one of them to give in to her."

As Charlie emerged from one of the aisles he replied to Verity, "Who's the handsome one? I've been here all day."

Charlie stopped by the counter and saw Bill in the doorway who gave him a short nod and a smile to greet him before escorting Fleur and Eloise around the store. Charlie looked down at Verity next to him and leaned closer to her, "Fleur will murder you someday if you keep it up, plus we all know I'm the handsome one." he said in a low voice, smirking at her.

Verity, whose cheeks her now burning red at Charlie's closeness, quickly excused herself from behind the counter without another word. Charlie felt quite amused by her reaction. It wasn't easy to fluster Verity but when he managed to catch her off guard he would feel proud of himself, as if he was winning an unspoken game the two had been playing.

Across the store Bill, Fleur, and Eloise had begun browsing various items, and it wasn't long before Eloise had broken off from the group and began exploring the store on her own, looking at every item in awe. Fleur made the store seem like a silly little joke shop, but everything around her was so bright and colorful and there were so many amazing items she had never seen before, Eloise was taking everything in with enormous admiration.

"Need help finding anything?" a man's voice came from behind her as she was looking at a box of Canary Creams.

Eloise looked over her shoulder to see a tall ginger wizard with warm brown eyes who had a million freckles speckled all over his tanned skin. He was wearing a maroon suit just like Charlie had been, but she recognized this man because he looked just like the wizard on the outside of the shop, this was George Weasley. Eloise realized she was taking in all of George's features for an uncomfortably long amount of time and was worried she was making him feel awkward.

"Oh no, just looking." she said, breaking her eyes away from George and setting the box back on the shelf.

Fleur rounded the corner to find the two of them standing together in the aisle, "Ah, you have already met I see."

"Well, not really." Eloise admitted, she knew exactly who George was but she was just another customer to him.

George raised an eyebrow at Eloise who still had her back to him facing the shelf holding the Canary Creams, she felt his gaze on the back of her head but was too nervous to face him. She had known this man for all of three minutes and yet she felt butterflies in her stomach just being in his presence. Fleur noticed this immediately.

"George, this is Eloise. Beautiful isn't she?" Fleur said, walking up to stand beside Eloise, turning her around to face George as she put an arm around her friend's shoulder.

Eloise felt her face turn an embarrassing shade of crimson and wished to be anywhere in the world other than this aisle with George at this very moment. George ran a hand through his hair, Fleur had an incredible knack for creating uncomfortably tense situations and this was no exception.

"Right, well it was lovely to meet you Eloise." George said as he promptly walked past the women, escaping from the aisle and the awkward situation Fleur created.

"Do you think now is a good time to tell him you will be joining us for dinner?" Fleur asked, stifling a laugh.

Eloise groaned, if she never had to see George Weasley again she would be completely fine with it. She had always been much more shy and reserved than her best friend, who often pushed her into social situations that she'd rather not be involved in. When they were young the two shared all of their secrets with each other, but over time Eloise was careful not to tell Fleur about any boys she fancied. If Fleur knew about any of Eloise's crushes she would get involved, always with the best intentions, but she often just ended up creating great embarrassment for Eloise. While Eloise did find George quite handsome, she would not be confiding that information in her friend.

Fleur and Eloise left the aisle they were in to go find Bill. As they stepped out from the aisle, Eloise glanced to her right and found George and the blonde witch who greeted them earlier chatting near the back of the store. Eloise noticed that George seemed much more at ease as he was chatting with her, whatever story he was telling her earned a warm laugh from the petite witch.

Verity broke her attention away from George and looked over to see Eloise watching them, "Who's that?" she asked George.

He looked over at her and at that moment Eloise immediately turned away and quickly and followed Fleur to the front of the store where Charlie and Bill had been chatting.

"My sister-in-law's friend." he said with a shrug.

"Oh well if she's her friend I doubt she's very nice."

"Fleur's alright once you get to know her."

Verity scoffed, "I highly doubt that."

"Well she doesn't seem very similar to Fleur anyway, she's a bit awkward. Stares a lot." George responded.

"I noticed." Verity laughed.

Charlie emerged from the front of the store and walked up to them, a bell ringing from above the door let them know that Bill, Fleur, and Eloise had left, "What're you two chatting about back here?"

"Fleur's friend." Verity said bluntly.

"Eloise? Why're you talking about her?"

Verity shrugged, "She's a bit awkward isn't she?"

Charlie raised an eyebrow at her, "I didn't get that at all from her, we were just chatting up at the front with Bill and Fleur." he said pointing his thumb over his shoulder at where he just came from.

Verity smirked, her brain working out exactly why Eloise had been acting a bit odd.

Charlie noticed her face and furrowed his brows at her, "What's going on in that evil little mind of yours, Ver?"

"First of all, I'm not evil. Second of all, she's got a thing for this one." gesturing her head towards George.

George looked down at Verity like she was insane, "What are you talking about? I barely spoke a word to her."

"I'll bet ten Sickles on it." she said to George with a mischievous grin.

"I'm not playing this dumb game." George said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, I'll take on that bet. They're all coming to dinner at my mum's house so I'll be able to give you all the details tomorrow." Charlie said, nudging Verity's shoulder.

"Excellent!" she laughed.

"They're what?" George interjected.

"Hmm? Oh, Bill said they're coming to dinner tonight and bringing Eloise." Charlie shrugged.

"Oh good." George groaned, he was not looking forward to any other awkward situations his sister-in-law was capable of creating.

-

George knew that most of his family were meant to be over for dinner that night, but he didn't anticipate Eloise's presence. He was already dreading having to interact with his family, attempting to put on the facade of being fine so they wouldn't try to poke and prod at him asking him if they can do anything to make him feel better. With a new presence in the house he was worried she would also look at him with sad eyes just like everyone else did.

From the minute he got home from work George had locked himself away in his bedroom, as he usually did. His family had stopped trying to talk to him when he arrived home to ask him how his day was since George usually just mumbled or grunted in response.

His work uniform was lazily thrown over the back of his desk chair and he now wore a Chudley Cannons t-shirt that Ron had given him for Christmas and a pair of old jeans. George wasn't the biggest fan of the Chudley Cannons, but he did like the shirt. The orange and maroon suited him much more than the light blue of the Tutshill Tornados or the green of the Holyhead Harpies.

George's room was on the second floor of the Burrow, so it was quite easy to hear whenever someone would come and go from the house. Within the hour that he and Charlie had been home, he had heard his dad arrive home complaining about something that happened at the Ministry earlier in the day, and shortly after that he heard Ron and Hermione bickering as they entered the kitchen. But it wasn't until he heard Fleur's unmistakable French accent that he started trying to really listen to what was going on.

He stood up and walked over to lean his right ear against the door to get a better listen, he thought maybe it would just be Bill and Fleur after all and they would have left Eloise at Shell Cottage. But to his dismay he heard another soft voice with a French accent that wasn't nearly as thick as Fleur's say, "It is lovely to meet you, Mrs. Weasley."

George jumped back from the door as a loud knock rang in his ears, he grasped the side of his head covering his ear as he opened the door and came face-to-face with Bill who raised an eyebrow at him.

"Don't tell me you've done something to your good ear." he joked.

"Shut up."

Bill laughed, "I just came up here to tell you that mum wants you."

George grumbled something under his breath as he stepped out into the hallway in front of Bill and made his way downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Oh there you are darling!" Molly said at the sight of George.

His mother was standing with Eloise, they seemed to have been chatting before he entered the room. Eloise gave a small polite smile to George before diverting her eyes away from him, looking at something across the room to avoid his gaze.

"Did you need something?" he asked his mother.

"Yes dear, would you please go out into the shed and fetch a few extra chairs?"

Instead of asking why Bill, Charlie, or Ron couldn't handle that task he took it as an opportunity to get out of the house and away from his family for a few minutes. He nodded at his mother before squeezing past the two witches, briefly brushing against Eloise's arm as he made his way out the back door. Her cheeks flushed with pink in response to his unintentional touch.

As George made his way across the garden Eloise watched him from the kitchen window. The warm light of the sunset seemed to make his hair more fiery and his tanned skin even more golden, her attention only broke away from him at the sound of Molly's voice asking her a question.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. What were you saying?" Eloise asked sheepishly, hoping that she hadn't noticed her staring at her son.

"That's alright dear, it tends to get loud when everyone is home visiting. I was asking how long you have been staying with Bill and Fleur."

"Oh, almost a week now. It's really lovely, they are both so accommodating and I'm loving all the time I get to spend with Fleur." Eloise said with a smile.

"You two went to school together?" Molly asked.

"Yes, she was a year above me, but we were very close growing up. Our classmates used to think Fleur had two younger sisters instead of one."

George returned to the house with as many extra chairs his arms could hold and began setting them around the table. His mother had clearly done a charm on the table to extend it further to accommodate everyone. He listened as his mother chatted with the blonde French girl with such ease compared to how she would act around George, he wondered if what Verity told her at the shop was true. He thought it was probably more likely that she actually hated him, maybe that's why she would avoid looking at him.

It wasn't long before the rest of the Weasley's arrived at the Burrow, the last to arrive were Harry and Ginny who had been busy the entire day moving Harry into his new flat in London. The family found their seats around the table, Eloise sat between Fleur and Ginny and found herself sitting right across from George, cursing her bad luck. If he sat anywhere else she wouldn't care, but there he was, right in front of her.

Molly waved her wand and dishes full of delicious home cooked food began careful floating to each person. Eloise was thrilled, she was an only child and didn't have a large extended family so being with the Weasleys for dinner felt like Christmas in July to her. Everyone began eating and Ginny was the first to break the silence.

"So if you went to school with Fleur, were you at Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament?" she asked Eloise.

Eloise finished chewing the bite of food in her mouth and shook her head, "No, I was 16 at the time. Madam Maxime only allowed the students who were of age to go. I was terribly jealous, I would have loved to attend the Yule Ball."

"Eh, the ball wasn't all that great." Ron mumbled from the other end of the table. Hermione turned to glare at him but said nothing.

"Ignore him, he's still mad he didn't get to Hermione before Krum did." Ginny laughed.

"Can we please change the subject?" Hermione said suddenly, not wanting to deal with Ron's years old jealousy after dinner.

Ginny laughed and turned her attention to George, "So how is work, George? I heard you went back to work this week."

George gave a small shrug not looking up from his food, "It's alright."

There was a bit of an awkward silence, but thanks to Fleur's presence it didn't last very long.

"We visited the shop earlier today. I think Elle loved it, didn't you?" Fleur said, turning to look at her friend with a smirk, Eloise knew what she was doing and she didn't appreciate being put on the spot in front of George's entire family.

"Oh yes, it was really amazing. I've never been to any shop like it before, Fleur had told me about it in her letters but it was even better in person. I would have loved to have a store like that near us growing up, if there is one thing Beauxbatons needed it was a bit of mischief." Eloise smiled at the Weasleys.

George looked up at her slightly as she spoke about his store, the enthusiastic smile that was on her face as she praised his business filled him with pride. The corner of his lip curled a little at her excitement. He knew people enjoyed his store, it was quite successful after all, but to see her genuine compliments really made George happy.

George wished Fred could have heard her, he knew he would have been thrilled. Although Eloise was oblivious of the man sitting across from her, Fleur had noticed and she sat back in her seat feeling very proud of herself.

The remainder of dinner was quite pleasant as they all chatted among themselves, Percy and Arthur talked about Ministry gossip, Eloise and Fleur told a few stories about Beauxbatons, Harry told the family about his new flat, and before they knew it it was already almost 8pm. Molly and Fleur began clearing the plates off the table and the rest of the family dispersed, all continuing their individual conversations.

George picked up some of the extra chairs to return to the shed and Eloise, feeling guilty just standing around and not helping anyone, approached him to ask if he wanted a hand.

"I can grab that for you." she said as George's grip on one of the chairs began to slip.

He over at her and the two of them made eye contact for the first time since they first met at the store earlier in the day. She had avoided George's gaze so much that this was the first time he noticed that her eyes were a beautiful shade of blue, he lost himself in them for a moment until he felt her reach for the chair in his hand.

"Oh yeah, thanks." he replied as she took the chair from his grasp.

Fleur who was cleaning dishes in the sink a few feet away started smirking to herself. She watched from the window as George led Eloise across the garden to the shed, she couldn't wait to bombard Eloise with a million questions about him when they got home. Molly walked up next to Fleur to set more plates in the sink, as she noticed her daughter-in-law looking out the window she too brought her attention to George and Eloise walking together back towards the house.

They were walking a fair distance apart, George had his hands in his pockets and Eloise was interlocking her fingers and twiddling her thumbs nervously. They were both looking down at the ground as they walked, rather than at each other. There was an awkwardness between the two of them, but it was clear to see that it was caused by shyness and nerves. Molly turned to Fleur and smiled at her, "Fleur, dear."

Fleur turned her head away from the window to look at her mother-in-law, "Yes?"

"Bring Eloise by again soon, she is lovely."

Fleur wondered if Molly was thinking the same thing she was, she knew the two of them could easily team up to play matchmaker if they wanted to.

"Oh, I will." Fleur said with a mischievous grin.


	8. Chapter Six

On the second to last day of July, Eloise arrived at the Burrow early in the morning, she was welcomed into the home by Molly who had been expecting her. Molly had sent her an owl only a few days ago, the letter was sent to Shell Cottage and was signed to Eloise in Molly's beautiful but messy handwriting. Initially Eloise was confused, she had no idea why Molly would be writing to her seeing as they had only met once before. But upon reading it she was thrilled, Molly had asked her to help with planning Bill and Fleur's surprise wedding anniversary party that coming weekend. The only problem was trying to prevent Fleur and her notorious nosiness from finding out about the party.

The first time Eloise had met the Weasleys was pleasant enough, if not a little awkward. Matters weren't made any better when arriving home that night because immediate Fleur began asking Eloise endless questions about George. She wanted to know what Eloise thought of him, what they talked about on their way to the shed, if she was interested in seeing him again soon. The only thing that stopped the interrogation was Bill, who gently ushered Fleur away from Eloise, mouthing the word _"Sorry"_ to her while doing so.

Hiding the letter from Fleur was quite difficult, but Eloise managed to do so by using it as a bookmark for safe keeping. While Fleur was nosy, she knew not to touch Eloise's books or move them from the last spot they had been placed in. Eloise was incredibly excited to help Molly plan the party for them, especially since Bill and Fleur were just expecting a normal family dinner, nothing extravagant.

Intently leaning over a piece of parchment scrawled with party plans, Eloise and Molly were giddily discussing ideas when George emerged from the staircase carrying a trunk. He hadn't expected his mother to be awake already as she had formed a habit of sleeping later than usual, but what he _really_ didn't expect to see was Eloise sitting there with her. He had no idea why she was there, he honestly didn't care, he was too focused on the fact that he now wouldn't be able to make a quiet escape without any questions.

The reason he had packed his trunk was to begin moving back into his flat above the shop, but he didn't want to be confronted by any family members about it. Of course he would tell them before he had completely moved out, he wasn't a rude man, but he didn't want anyone to make a big deal out of it.

The two witches hadn't noticed George enter the room at first, so he was free to observe them for just a moment. Molly had said something to Eloise as he entered the room that made her giggle as she tucked a stray piece of her wavy blonde hair behind her ear. The light from the sunrise shining through the window landed on her hair, causing it to look even more golden than it did the last time he saw her. His gaze fell on her lips as she smiled warmly at his mother and nodded in agreement of whatever she had suggested.

George admired her as she spoke with his mother, the two clicked right away and he could see what a kind and attentive person Eloise could be. It left him wondering why she seemed to act so differently around him, as if she wanted to completely avoid him. The thought caused a strange feeling to form in his chest, a combination of confusion and jealousy. Maybe she could tell that he was a broken man and didn't want to get involved with his baggage, he could understand that.

"Oh, good morning dear"

The voice of his mother broke his train of thought, he hadn't realized how long he had been staring at the blonde. He tried to shake her from his mind before replying to his mother.

"Morning mum. Eloise."

At the sound of his short greeting Eloise looked up at George, she gave him a quick polite smile before returning her full attention back to the parchment in front of her. _There she goes again, avoiding me,_ George thought to himself before he tried once more to get thoughts of her out of his head. Molly stood from the table as she saw the trunk in her son's hands. She looked him up and down with furrowed brows as she walked towards him.

"What's this?" his mother asked, gesturing to the trunk in his hands.

"Just clothes and stuff, I decided to start moving some of my stuff back to the flat. I'm giving Charlie the extra room so I figure I'll move back in as well so he's not alone there." he shrugged before bending over to place the trunk at his feet, intentionally creating a small barrier between him and his mother.

"Not in Fred's-" she started to ask in a sad hushed voice before George cut her off.

"No, in the old office." he interrupted, understanding that she was asking if Charlie would be moving into his twin's old room. Surely she knew he had no intention of touching any of Fred's old things, let alone have his older brother take over the room.

His eyes quickly flashed over to Eloise to try and see if she was listening in on their conversation, but from his perspective it seemed like she was entirely too focused on whatever she was writing down to pay any attention to them. _Just acknowledge me for once,_ his intrusive thoughts came rushing back in.

He had no idea why it seemed like the girl was invading his brain. Maybe he had just grown so accustomed to everyone around him always giving him attention that the one time someone seemed less interested in him it became more obvious. The thought of him seeking attention or validation from someone he barely knew made him uncomfortable, he usually wasn't like that unless he was looking to get a laugh out of someone. 

Trying to shake away his racing thoughts he rubbed his hand on the back of his neck and returned his eyes to his mother. She looked as if she was getting ready to ask him even more questions and he wasn't in the mood to answer any of them, so he took that as his queue to leave.

"Look, can we talk about this later mum? I need to go meet Charlie."

Slightly taken aback by George's dismissiveness, Molly nodded slightly and said "Sure, dear."

He nodded at her and bent over to pick up his trunk again before turning to leave the house without saying goodbye to either of the witches in the kitchen.

-

When George arrived outside of the shop he set his trunk down and dug around in his jacket pocket for the keys. It was a few hours before any other stores would be opening, so Diagon Alley was almost as empty as it had been during the war. After unlocking the main door to the store he stepped inside, dragging his trunk behind him. He noticed just how eerily quiet the shop was with no one in it.

He had gotten so used to Charlie or Verity opening the store that he forgot how it felt for it to be completely silent. But despite the quietness that he had experienced before, this was his first time he was in the store on his own since losing Fred. Gazing at the stairs up to the flat he started to truly feel how alone he was.

Up until now he felt like he had been in control of his loneliness. He felt that _he_ was the one that chose to push his friends and family away because he felt like it was better for him to grieve alone than to burden anyone with his emotions. But after his conflicted feelings this morning about Eloise, and the fact that he would be facing his past head on by moving back to the flat, he truly felt like he was forced to be alone. Even if everyone in the world was giving him all of their attention, without Fred he would always be alone.

Taking in a deep breath, he picked up his trunk and headed for the stairs. At the top of the landing he pushed the trunk against the wall next to the door, holding it up with his hip as he used his free hand to turn the handle on the door to the flat, nudging it open with his foot. 

At first he just stood in the doorway for a bit gazing into the room, part of his brain felt like if he walked through the door it would be like a portal to the past and Fred would greet him on the other side. But in reality he knew that wasn't the case. He knew when he walked in that it would be empty, just like it had been sitting for months.

Eventually, he was able to will his feet to move his body forward. He walked through the dark flat and remembered what Verity had said about her and Charlie not coming up here. It was exactly how he and Fred had left it back when they went to their Great-Aunt Muriel's, so much so that George noticed that the door to Fred's room was still open.

George's eyes didn't break from the doorway to Fred's room as he set down the trunk on the kitchen floor. He desperately wanted to go inside to feel the memory of his brother. But at the same time he was scared of his own emotions if he were to put himself in that situation. All he could hear was his own heart pounding as his feet seemed to work on autopilot, carrying him straight towards his twin's former bedroom.

As he entered the room George felt a warmth wash over him, he couldn't tell if it was from the sunrise shining through the window or if it was Fred's memory. Fred had always been the messier one out of the two of them, and that was clear to see in his room. There were several sheets of parchment spread across the desk and crumpled papers scattered on the floor. Various pieces of clothing were thrown over the desk chair and on the floor haphazardly and Fred's bed was left unmade, as it always had been.

George took in the details of every inch of his brother's room and began to feel a lump start to form in his throat as he sat on the bed and put his head in his hands. He finally let himself feel all the emotions that he had been bottling in for almost three months, the quiet room was filled only with the sounds of George's sobbing. It felt like an eternity since he had first entered Fred's room, but his emotions were interrupted by the sound of Verity's voice coming from downstairs.

"George? Charlie?"

George quickly stood up from the bed and hastily wiped his tears away with the sleeve of his jacket before leaving Fred's room, pulling the door closed behind him. He walked back out into the main living area of the flat to see Verity standing in the doorway to the landing.

"I'm sorry, I saw the door open and I didn't know you were here. I'll go, I'm sorry." she whispered as she saw George's face.

Though he had wiped the tears from his eyes, they were still red and puffy and clearly showed all the sadness George had been feeling.

"No." he said without thinking as Verity began to turn around to retreat back to the store down below.

She paused and looked back over her shoulder to see George's arm stretched out to her, as if he wanted her to take his hand. Confusion took over as she furrowed her brows at him.

"Please." he whispered.

He had spent so long pushing everyone away but he realized in this moment he couldn't deal with this pain on his own, he needed someone. Verity didn't know what to do, she had never seen George be vulnerable like this before. She cautiously took slow steps towards him, maintaining eye contact the entire time.

They stood face to face with each other and she gently rested her hand in his. In one fluid motion he pulled her into a hug and felt her wrap her arms around his torso in response. As they both relaxed into the embrace he rested his head on hers and she leaned into his chest.

"I miss him so much, Ver." George mumbled as he put his face in her hair and allowed his tears to continue.

Her hand ran up and down his back as she attempted to comfort him, silently. He figured that she probably didn't know what to say, the embrace was all so sudden. But he honestly felt like her holding him was enough, she didn't have to say anything. They stood like that for several minutes as Verity rubbed his back and he cried into her hair.

George pulled away after a while, seemingly coming to his senses, he crossed his arms over his chest feeling guilty for the situation he had just put her in. Verity was his friend, his employee. He was cursing himself for dumping all of his problems onto her out of the blue like that. _But she was there, she saw me, she didn't avoid me,_ George's thoughts felt like a hurricane in his mind. All this time he had spent bottling up everything was causing an overflowing whirlpool of emotions that he couldn't even begin to try to comprehend.

"I'm sorry Verity, that wasn't appropriate." he said, avoiding her eyes.

At the sight of his pained expression, she stepped forward and reached up to gently cup a hand to the side of his face, wiping away a tear with her thumb, forcing him to meet her eyes as he instinctively leaned into her touch.

"You don't have to apologize for grieving, George. Please remember that."

George and Verity had never been this open with each other even though they had known one another since their Hogwarts days. She was a Hufflepuff in the same year as him and Fred, and despite being in separate houses, she always found ways to spend time with them. Hogsmeade weekends were their favorite times together, the three would spend their entire time in Zonko's Joke Shop planning out their next week of pranks. 

It was a natural choice to ask her to work with them when they opened their shop because that's what their relationship was built on, jokes and laughter. So now that the two of them were standing there with George's emotions completely unguarded it was brand new territory. _She sees me, she knows me,_ George thought to himself.

They were completely consumed by the emotional moment that they hadn't noticed the sounds of Charlie's footsteps coming up to the flat. The older Weasley was greeted by the sight of George and Verity in their emotional embrace and he immediately wished that he had never stumbled upon them.

"Oh shit, sorry I- sorry." Charlie stuttered, causing Verity and George to quickly pull away from each other.

Verity looked from Charlie back to George as her face grew red in embarrassment and she promptly rushed out of the room, bumping Charlie's shoulder in the process. Charlie's eyes followed Verity as she rushed down the stairs but turned back to George who was running a hand through his hair, avoiding his gaze.

"Are you okay? Was this? Is she?" Charlie stuttered, unable to form complete thoughts.

"Nothing." George shook his head.

"Right, cause I don't think that would be a good idea."

"What?"

"Verity. I mean, she- it's not a good idea."

"Charlie, it's nothing." George said, the frustration on his voice was clear to both of them. 

He already felt overwhelmed and confused enough with his emotions as it was. On top of everything else on his mind, he didn't need his brother thinking something was going on between him and Verity.

George honestly didn't know what he was feeling about Verity, she was the first person he really opened up to other than his mother at Fred's funeral. Mostly he just felt grateful that she was there for him, but part of him also felt awkward about the moment they had shared and hoped that their friendship wouldn't be affected by it. 

The fact that she hadn't been treating him any differently since losing Fred brought great comfort to George, he felt normal around her. So he was dreading the possibility that she might see him as a broken man now that he decided to open up to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to try sprinkling some inner thoughts of George's, just to get more insight into his feelings. I'm on the fence about continuing that kind of thing in the future, so let me know what you think of it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the wee bit of tension I had to throw into the story :)


	9. Chapter Seven

_**August 1998** _

The evening of Bill and Fleur's anniversary party had finally arrived and Eloise was ecstatic, though she was doing her absolute best to hide her excitement from the couple so as to not raise any suspicion. For all Bill and Fleur knew, they were just having a nice quiet dinner with Bill's family. But Eloise and Molly had been working hard for the last week to plan a lovely event for the couple, Molly especially wanted to make it special for them since their wedding reception had been tragically cut short by a Death Eater attack.

What Eloise was most excited about though was that she was able to invite Fleur's family. They hadn't been able to make the time to visit Fleur since the end of the war, so Eloise felt like the anniversary party was the perfect excuse. She knew Fleur would be absolutely thrilled to see them, especially her little sister Gabrielle. While Fleur can have a bit of a blunt and abrasive personality to some people, she is incredibly gentle, loving, and sweet with her younger sister.

It was about time to leave Shell Cottage for the Burrow and Eloise was pacing around the kitchen waiting anxiously for the couple to finish getting ready. Eloise had told them to dress "nice, but comfortable." Initially Bill wasn't a bit annoyed with idea, he told Eloise that he has never had to have a dress code to eat dinner with his family, but Fleur would seize any opportunity for the couple to dress up a little nicer these days so she was able to convince him to go along with it.

Fleur emerged from the stairs looking effortlessly beautiful, as always. She was wearing a lovely light blue dress that ended right at her knees. It had a pattern of small white flowers all over the fabric and fit loosely on her body but was tied around her waist with a ribbon to still show her figure. To fight the summer heat, hair was pulled back into a long braid and she had slipped on a white pair of strappy sandals.

Bill followed shortly after looking as handsome as ever, though not particularly thrilled. Eloise had assumed that Fleur was in charge of choosing his outfit just by reading his face. He wore a pair of light grey slacks with nice black shoes and a light blue button down shirt matching the color of Fleur's dress perfectly. His sleeves were rolled up just above his elbows and his long red hair was pinned half up, Eloise knew these modifications to the ensemble were Bill's doing. A compromise between the couple, of course.

As for Eloise, she kept her outfit simple to make sure Fleur was the center of attention as she should be. She wore a simple white lace off the shoulder blouse that would feel comfortable in the muggy August air and a nice pair of black jeans. She pinned her unruly blonde curls away from her face with no real rhyme or reason, she just hated the feeling of her hair touching her face in the summertime.

"You look stunning as always Fleur and you look lovely as well Bill." Eloise smiled at the couple as they entered the kitchen.

"Merci, mon amie. Bill would look much more handsome if he wore the vest I set out for him though, I think." Fleur said, leaning into her husband and resting a hand on his chest as she looked up at him with a smirk.

"It's August, Fleur. Do you want me to have a heat stroke? It'll be bad enough in what I'm already wearing." he replied sarcastically, but ran his hand over Fleur's hair with affection in his eyes before placing a kiss on her forehead.

Though they may disagree with each other, the couple always made sure to show each other affection. That's the kind of love Eloise was desperate to find one day. Usually people would strive for a romance like one in a storybook, one that is filled with grand gestures and falling in love at first sight. But Eloise wanted what her friends had, a real unconditional love with understanding and undeniable compatibility. She wanted a soulmate.

"Well, are we ready to go?" Eloise asked excitedly.

Fleur raised her eyebrow at her friend, "What's got you excited? Is it George?" she asked with a tone of mischief in her voice.

After all these years Eloise was nearly immune to Fleur's out of the blue comments that she just rolled her eyes at her friend in response, " _No_ , I'm not excited to see George."

But that was a lie, Eloise was excited to see George. She had trouble getting him out of her mind, but she didn't understand why. The two of them barely knew each other, they'd only had one real conversation and that was when she had helped him carry chairs back to the shed on her first night meeting the Weasleys;

_"Thanks for the help." George said as he set down the chairs and turned to Eloise to reach for the one she was holding._

_"Oh, it was no problem. I hate watching others work while I stand around and do nothing, so it's the least I can do." She said while handing him the chair._

_The two stood in the shed for a moment before George broke the silence, "I'm George, by the way."_

_Eloise was confused, of course she knew who he was, so why would he reintroduce himself now?_

_George sensed her confusion so he continued, "I never really got a chance to introduce myself. Fleur introduced me to you, and you only knew who I was because I guess Bill and Fleur had talked about me before. Well, I'm George."_

_Eloise looked up at him with a small smile, "I guess I never realized that, but you're right. Well, it's nice to meet you George."_

_He held his hand out to her for a handshake which caused her to chuckle to herself for a moment before taking it and shaking his hand with a smile._

_"What's funny?" George asked in confusion._

_"Well, I was just thinking that typically back home in France when a friend introduces me to another friend I would do 'la bise' rather than shaking their hand."_

_"La bise?"_

_"You know, when you greet someone by kissing their cheeks." she responded by pulling her hand away from George's and pointing at her right cheek then the left._

_A warm blush rushed over George's face, "Oh, right."_

_The lighting in the shed was just dim enough so that Eloise hadn't noticed the sudden change in color on George's face. To Eloise, la bise was just another greeting, something she did with coworkers, family, and friends. But to George it was something he had only experienced a few times, mostly notably with Fleur's family at the wedding when George went to the wrong side first and nearly kissed Fleur's mother right on the lips. Fred loved to bring that up to him on occasion for a good laugh._

_"It's not like a real kiss though, it's just a nice way to say hello to friends." Eloise said, interrupting George's thoughts, "I can show you?"_

_As he nodded he felt himself holding his breath as she took a step forward and rested her right hand on his shoulder, "First, you make eye contact and rest your right hand on their shoulder."_

_George followed her directions silently and looked into her eyes, they were kind and patient and he could feel himself loosening up the longer he looked at her. Until she spoke again which prevented him from drowning in the blue depths of her beautiful eyes._

_"Then you lean in, first to the left and you touch your cheek to mine, don't forget to make the kiss sound but don't actually kiss me." she said with a laugh as the two of them leaned in together before pulling away slightly, maintaining eye contact._

_Their faces were inches apart as she spoke the next instructions softly to George, "Then the right."_

_The two leaned in briefly to finish the greeting and then Eloise pulled away from George as she took a step back, "See, it's easy."_

_George cleared his throat, "Yeah...right. Well, best get back to the house right?"_

_He had no idea why he felt so flustered, maybe it was the memory of the embarrassing moment he had with Fleur's mother or maybe it was something about being so close to Eloise that had his head and his heart doing somersaults._

_Eloise was taken aback by the sudden change in George's demeanor, she was worried maybe she had offended him or made him uncomfortable. Sometimes differing cultures could cause awkward moments, she tried to brush those feelings away but his behavior was causing her to feel slightly guilty._

_The two walked back to the Burrow silently while avoiding each other's eyes. She wanted to say something to him, she thought maybe she should apologize but she didn't know what to say to break the tension between them so she just stayed quiet._

Eloise broke herself away from the memory of George and back to reality, "Let's just go, shall we?"

-

When the three of them arrived at the Burrow, they were greeted with a large white tent out in the garden that was only slightly smaller than the one they had for their wedding reception. Eloise could feel a wide grin forming on her face as Fleur turned to look at her.

"What is this?" Fleur asked Eloise.

"Happy Anniversary!" she replied, quickly grasping Fleur's hand and pulling her towards the tent while Bill followed behind with a smirk on his face.

Eloise pulled back the door of the tent to reveal all of Bill and Fleur's friends and family on the inside who all yelled "Happy Anniversary!" in a chorus together as the couple entered. Fleur had a hand over her mouth in shock as she took in the sight of all of their loved ones in one place. All of them haven't been able to get together like this since the wedding a year prior. Bill had an arm around his wife's shoulders as a smile formed on his lips.

When Fleur's parents and sister emerged from the crowd a shriek of joy left her lips and it looked as though her knees might give out just at the sight of them. She rushed forward and fell into their arms and Eloise felt a feeling of pride form in her chest as she watched the family reunion that she had helped pull together. The family exchanged hugs, kisses, and tears of joy and the sight filled the entire tent with a warm feeling. Eloise's attention broke away from Fleur as she felt a hand rest on her shoulder.

"Would you help me in the kitchen, dear?" Molly asked.

Eloise nodded and followed Molly all the way inside the Burrow. As they entered the kitchen a sweet smell of chocolate filled the air and she could tell that Molly had been working tirelessly all day to prepare all of the food for the event. As if by magic, Molly had timed everything out perfectly just in time to finish icing a large chocolate cake right as the festivities began.

"This all looks amazing, Mrs. Weasley!"

Molly smiled appreciatively at Eloise's compliment and watched happily as the blonde girl looked around the kitchen in admiration. There were trays of stuffed mushrooms, bacon wrapped dates, and various cheeses and cured meats for appetizers. She had prepared roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and a fresh green salad for the entree, and of course the beautiful chocolate cake for dessert.

"Did you do this all yourself?" Eloise asked, as she took in all the work that had been done.

"Oh, heavens no, dear. Ginny and Hermione helped, and even Ron helped with the cake. Though I suspect he was just trying to sneak away pieces of chocolate." Molly laughed, "I was hoping you'd help me bring everything out to the tent. I believe George is still up in his room if you don't mind getting him, he could help too. Plus, if no one gets him I'm sure he will spend the entire night in there."

Eloise felt a little uncomfortable being the one tasked with retrieving George, the two somehow always found themselves feeling quite awkward around each other but Eloise felt it would be rude to object.

"Oh, yes of course."

"Perfect, his room is the first door on the right on the second floor. You'll know it when you see it, you can't miss the scorch marks on the floor right outside the room." Molly said with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

Eloise climbed the stairs and sure enough found the door with dozens of scorch marks scarring the wood floor just in front of it. She rapped her knuckles gently against the door to no response. Standing there a moment longer she decided to knock again, a little louder this time. Again, to no response. Eloise was tensing up, she really did not want to be the one to have to retrieve George and here she was, standing outside his room being ignored.

"George? Your mother wants you to come out." Eloise spoke against the wood barrier between them.

At the sound of her voice he cracked the door open slightly, silently granting her entry, before he retreated back to his bed. Eloise wasn't entirely sure if she should enter but didn't want to return to the kitchen without him, so she slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside. George was laying on the bed with his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. Another bed lay empty on the other side of the room, which she had guessed to be Fred's old bed when they were children.

The room smelled like gunpowder and sweets, an odd combination but it somehow felt very fitting for George. She took a few steps further into the room but George paid her no mind. She could see that the window in his room pointed perfectly at the tent below where his family was no doubt enjoying themselves while he lay silently up here. The thought of George hiding away from everyone entered Eloise's mind, she wanted to be sympathetic but they barely knew each other so she felt like she shouldn't be the one to pry.

"I'm surprised she sent you to get me." George said, not breaking his eyes away from the ceiling.

"Oh, me too. I have no idea why she thought I'd be a good choice for the job." she replied as her eyes turned away from the window and down to George.

She saw the corner of his lips turn up slightly in response to her comment. He let out a sigh before sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Clearly not wanting to go, he ran both hands over his face and through his hair before standing up.

"Well, I know she'll send everyone at the party up to get me if that's what it takes, so let's just go." George said with a slight tone of annoyance, he walked across his room and held the door open for her before following her down the stairs to the kitchen.

-

The party was a roaring success, having everyone together for a happy occasion was clearly what all the Weasleys needed. Well, almost all of them. Eloise had been chatting happily with Fleur's mother for a while when over Mrs. Delacour's shoulder she spotted George sitting alone at a table in the corner of the tent, nursing a drink.

Eloise politely pulled herself away from the conversation with Mrs. Delacour to go over to him, she couldn't describe the magnetic feeling she had towards him, but she hated the sight of him sitting alone.

"Can I sit here?" she asked kindly.

"No one else is." he shrugged, keeping his eye on his drink.

Eloise sat herself down in the chair right next to him, she leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest as she watched the room. People were happily chatting and dancing together while the two of them sat in silence. George periodically took a sip from his drink which Eloise recognized as fire whiskey just from the smell of it. Eloise tapped her feet along with the song that was playing which caught George's attention.

"You don't have to sit with me, you can go dance." he said.

"I don't like to dance in front of people very much, I'm too shy for that. I'm okay just watching."

"Suit yourself." he said before taking another sip from his drink.

The two sat in silence for a while longer, the song had switched from upbeat to slow and she watched as all the couples in the tent swayed to the music together looking longingly into each other's eyes. Eloise was a romantic at heart, so even though she didn't have a date herself, it didn't bother her to see others be affectionate. If anything it just warmed her heart more, Eloise was one of those people who just loved love.

"Do you want to get out of here?" she asked, suddenly breaking the silence between the two.

George almost choked on his drink at the suggestion and looked over at her with wide eyes, "I'm sorry?"

"I mean we could get out of here and go on a walk if you don't want to sit here anymore, are you okay?" she asked with concern in her voice.

George started laughing, "I'm sorry, we got lost in translation for a moment there."

"We did?"

"Yes well, 'let's get out of here' is usually said when you want to go back to someone's place and well...you know."

Eloise clasped her hands over her mouth and her face turned an embarrassing shade of red at the realization of what she had apparently suggested, "Oh Merlin, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, I'm not-"

George laughed even more at her reaction which cut off her rambling, he stood up and downed the rest of his drink quickly before holding out a hand to her, "Let's go on that walk."

The embarrassment was still clear on her face as she laid her hand in his and stood from the table. The two of them walked out of the tent hand in hand, catching the attention of a few of the Weasleys and of Fleur who looked to be mentally making a note to herself to ask Eloise all about it later.

When they reached the outside of the tent George let go of her and put both of his hands in his pockets. The summer sun had almost completely set, only a few rays of golden light remained.

"Follow me." George said, gesturing his head to his right.

He led them down a grassy path that circled around the Weasley's property. The two walked side by side, enjoying each other's quiet company and the warm breeze of the August night air. Eloise was looking all around the land the Weasleys owned, they had various sheds filled with knick-knacks Arthur had collected over the years, multiple gardens growing lots of fruit and vegetables for the family, a few chicken coops, and even a large pond on the south side of their land.

"Has your family always lived here?" Eloise asked.

George nodded and glanced up at the Burrow, "Mum and dad kept adding more and more rooms as each of us were born, it's all held together by magic. It's not much though, but it's home."

"It's absolutely amazing." Eloise said with a wide smile, earning a shy smile from George in return.

She felt like George was being modest, there was no home like it she had ever seen before. Her own childhood home in France was painfully ordinary in comparison to where George had grown up. As they came upon the homemade Quidditch pitch Arthur had built for the kids years ago George stopped and turned to Eloise.

"Do you play?"

She shook her head quickly, "Oh no, I'm rubbish on a broom. I fell off one when I was twelve and broke my wrist, I haven't tried flying since then."

"I could teach you some time if you like, no pressure of course."

"Oh, I don't know." she shrugged, idly kicking the dirt below her feet. Flying was a real fear of hers, even though she knew it was silly.

"Or I could take you for a ride sometime, I'm great on a broom if I do say so myself." he spoke proudly, gently nudging her in the shoulder.

"Maybe someday." She replied with a cautious smile, "Did you play Quidditch in school?"

He nodded, "All my siblings besides Bill and Perce did. I was a beater with Fred."

This was the first time George had openly mentioned Fred to her, and she knew that wasn't to be taken lightly. She could tell that he was feeling much more at ease around her than he had been in their first few meetings. George smiled down at her noting the moonlight reflecting in her eyes, he then looked up to see the sky had gotten much darker since they began their walk.

"Best get back to the tent then, shall we?" George suggested.

"Probably for the best, I already know Fleur will be making up crazy stories in her head about where we went off to."

George chuckled, "I can only imagine."


	10. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes a brief makeout scene between two drunk characters.
> 
> There's no smut or graphic content, but I wanted to make a note for any readers who are uncomfortable reading about characters in an intimate situation while under the influence.

It had been business as usual at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes since George returned to work at the beginning of July. But today as George was going through the usual tasks of helping customers, restocking shelves, and taking inventory, he found himself continuously checking the clock, counting down the hours to closing time. The reason for his anxious excitement was because that evening his best friend from his Hogwarts days, Lee Jordan, would be visiting for the first time since May.

The two friends hadn't seen each other since Fred's funeral, and if George was being completely honest with himself, he wasn't fully mentally present that day. He had to shut down all of his emotions and thoughts just to get through it, any words of comfort that any of his friends or family offered went in one ear and out the other, otherwise George knew he would have a full break down in front of the entire crowd. So really, George hadn't actually _seen_ Lee since the Battle of Hogwarts itself.

" _George!_ " the voice of an annoyed woman broke George's attention from the clock.

"Hmm?" he said, flicking his head toward Verity. The two of them hadn't really talked beyond business since Charlie walked in on her comforting him a week prior.

"I _said_ there's a customer over by the Pygmy Puffs that has a question." Verity said impatiently while rolling her eyes at him, evidently she had been trying to get his attention for a while just to be ignored by him in his distracted state.

He nodded and left the girl standing at the counter without another word. There had been some tension between them since he had opened up to her, they hadn't really acknowledged what happened. But she didn't blame him, she thought it was quite brave of him to open up like that and she understood that it wasn't easy for him to be so vulnerable. She certainly wasn't going to treat him any differently because of it. 

She rested her head in her hands as she leaned her elbows on the counter with a bored expression on her face when Charlie came up to the counter, setting down a box of love potions next to her.

"If you want to slip me a love potion, you'll have to be more sneaky than that, Weasley." Verity teased.

"I don't want to slip you anything Ver, especially since you seem to be smitten with another redhead anyways." Charlie shrugged as he opened the box to take inventory, making sure the amount of bottles matched the number on the piece of parchment in his hands.

"What are you on about?"

Charlie merely shrugged in response not breaking his eyes away from the parchment, he wouldn't tell Verity that the sight of her with his brother caused feelings of jealousy in his heart, especially since he was in denial about his own feelings anyway. 

Verity's brows furrowed, she knew Charlie was talking about the scene that he had walked in on between herself and George and was growing annoyed by his suggestion that she had any sort of feelings for George.

"Charlie, I was comforting him. He was upset, that doesn't mean I'm in love with him, you idiot. That means I'm his _friend_. Everyone's been trusting him when he says he is completely fine when it's obvious he's not. Maybe you should pay more attention to your own brother rather than making up crazy stories about me in that stupid head of yours." Verity stated in a hushed tone, trying to keep quiet in case George was within earshot of them.

Before Charlie even had a chance to respond to her she retreated from the counter, clearly too annoyed to listen to anything he had to say to her, even if it was an apology.

-

The rest of the day, the three employees of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes worked alongside each other in silence, each dealing with their own internal conflicts and tensions between one another. 

It was about ten past five when the bell above the door rang. Verity pulled her eyes away from the register she was counting and saw a tall man with long dreads and a familiar smile walk into the shop. She immediately abandoned her post and ran up to the man, wrapping her arms around his neck and nearly knocking the case of Simison Steaming Stout from his hands as he stumbled backwards.

He wrapped an arm around Verity and gently patted her on the back, "I missed you too, Ver." Lee said with a laugh.

She pulled away from him with a smile, "I'll let George know you're here."

Lee's arrival had softened Verity's demeanor almost immediately. It was actually Lee who introduced her to the twins, he and Verity had been partnered in potions during their second year and the rest is history. Verity will always acknowledge that of the three boys, Lee was her first friend. While Verity was friends with Fred and George throughout school, Lee was their _best_ friend, like another brother. He truly was the glue that held their group together. Verity felt that Lee visiting was exactly what they all needed.

George was in his new office, he had set it up in an old storage room on the first floor. It wasn't really ideal as there were no windows, so it was a rather dark and depressing work environment despite having multiple lanterns in the room. The irony of working in a bleak dark room within an otherwise bright and happy joke shop didn't escape George, though he felt it was oddly fitting with how he was feeling in his life. Happy normal George on the outside, gloomy and grim George on the inside.

Though he would much rather do his paperwork in that room than have his old office upstairs. If he had kept his old office, Charlie would have no choice but to take over Fred's old room and that wasn't an option for George.

He was in the middle of balancing the store's accounts for the week when he heard a short knock on the door, knowing it would either be Verity or Charlie. Neither of which he was particularly thrilled to chat with at the moment, but he knew he couldn't avoid them forever.

"Come in."

Verity peeked her head in the door slightly, "Hey, Lee just got here."

Initially George wasn't thrilled at the sight of Verity, but her words lit up some excitement in him. He stood from the desk and promptly made his way out of the office. Verity quickly stepped away from the door to avoid him, he looked like a man on a mission and she wasn't keen on being run over in the process.

George and Lee greeted each other with a hearty hug and strong pats on each other's backs.

"Good to see you, mate." Lee said with a wide grin.

"You too. Listen, I've got a few things to finish up for the day, you can go ahead and head up to the flat if you want, Charlie should already be up there."

Lee nodded and turned his head to Verity who had just walked back from George's office and was making her way to leave for the day, "You're not staying?" he asked her with disappointment in his voice.

She shook her head and briefly glanced at George before responding, "Oh no, I was just going to head home. I didn't want to intrude on boy's night."

"Don't be silly! Since when have we ever left you out, Ver? You've always been one of the boys." Lee said with a laugh as he walked up and put an arm around her shoulder, preventing her from escaping.

She made eye contact with George, as if she was silently asking his permission to stay. Part of him didn't want her to stay, but part of him did. So much had changed since the last time they had all hung out together, the most obvious was that their group was missing one important member. He knew he shouldn't exclude her from the group after everything they had been through together. Losing Fred was hard enough, pushing away Verity wouldn't make things any easier or fix any of his problems.

He nodded at Verity, silently answering her question and she responded with a soft smile.

"Alright, I'll stay." she said, returning her attention to Lee.

"That's my girl!" he replied, giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze with his arm.

"I'll be up soon, make yourselves comfortable." George interjected before turning his back on them and returning to the office.

-

Charlie, Lee, George, and Verity found themselves laughing and chatting about old times over rounds of beer, wine, and firewhisky. They had lost all track of time and of their sobriety, but George didn't care. This was the most relaxed he had felt in months, he couldn't be sure if it was due to the alcohol or the presence of his friends, it was probably a mixture of both.

It was nearing 1 am when Lee decided he should head home. Charlie tried to offer him the couch to sleep on for the night, but he assured them that he was okay to take the Floo Network back to his own flat. As Lee stepped into the fireplace he grabbed a handful of floo powder and in his drunken state he slightly slurred the name of his flat as the green flames consumed him. Charlie and George noticed instantly and looked at each other in confusion.

"What did he say?" Charlie asked

George, who was quite drunk himself couldn't completely recall, so he merely shrugged his shoulders and shook his head at his brother.

Charlie rolled his eyes and grabbed a handful of floo powder himself, "I'm going to make sure he got home alright, I'll be back in a bit."

Of the four of them, Charlie drank the least since he absolutely hated the taste of firewhisky. He had only had one glass of wine, so he was in a much better state to go check on Lee than Verity or George had been. With a flash of green flames Charlie vanished from the flat, leaving Verity and George the last ones remaining.

George was sitting on the couch next to Verity, he was leaned back in a relaxed position with his eyes closed, his arms rested lazily over the back of the couch and he had a loose grip on a nearly empty bottle of beer in his right hand. He felt Verity lean closer to him, but her presence didn't bother him so he didn't open his eyes. He felt a poke of her finger suddenly prod at his cheek and he opened his left eye to glance down at the blonde woman next to him.

"Are you drunk?" she whispered with a giggle.

He smirked and closed his eyes again before replying, "Are you?"

"Yes." she giggled again, causing an adorable crinkle to appear on her nose.

While George was a sleepy drunk, Verity was a giggly one, he still remembered the first time he ever saw Verity get drunk. It was at his and Fred's 18th birthday party, she was still 17 years old at the time but that didn't stop her, and besides she wasn't the only underage student at the party who was drinking. 

The party was held in the Gryffindor Common room. Normally parties weren't a big deal at school, though they were always careful to avoid Filch. But the excitement of being in Dumbledore's Army and the hatred they all felt for Umbridge inspired the students to make it one of the wildest parties Hogwarts had seen in recent years.

Verity was the queen of the dance floor that night, when the alcohol hit her she danced, sung, and laughed wildly. By the end of the night Fred and George had to borrow Harry's cloak to carry her back to the Hufflepuff dorms trying desperately to hush her laughter as Mrs. Norris followed them the entire way.

The memory brought a smile to George's lips as he slipped his arm from the back of the couch onto her shoulder, pulling her into his chest. Though they were close, they were never incredibly affectionate, but the alcohol in their system drowned out any awkward feelings this embrace may have brought up otherwise. George brought the bottle to his lips and downed the rest of the drink before dropping it on the floor and returning his eyes to Verity, who had apparently been staring at him the entire time.

She started laughing again when he looked down at her.

"What's so funny?"

"I've never had this close of a look at your ear, or lack of an ear I guess." she said with a giggle while poking at the side of his head where most of his ear was missing.

He rolled his eyes and pulled his arm from around her shoulder and leaned away, "Alright-"

"Wait, I'm sorry!" Verity said as she quickly moved her legs around to straddle him, she had her hands on his shoulders and she was doing her best to keep him from leaving.

George knew he could easily push her off his lap if he wanted to, she was light as a feather after all. But instead he let her sit there and stared into her eyes, his head was fuzzy but he wasn't bothered by the position at all.

Verity started laughing again and ran a hand through George's hair, the feeling relaxed him slightly, making him feel even more sleepy than he already was.

"What now?"

"I was just thinking that if you grew your hair out again like in sixth year, you'd be able to cover up your ear." she replied with a mischievous laugh.

"That's it."

Instead of just pushing her off him, George rested his hands on the back of her thighs as he pushed himself up off the couch. Verity instinctively wrapped her legs around his hips and her arms around his neck for support as he turned to carry her to his room. George nudged the unlatched door open with his foot, the room was completely dark minus a stream of silver moonlight that was coming through the window.

George carried Verity who was laughing against his shoulder into the room. At the foot of his bed he reached behind his neck to loosen her grip and with one swift motion dropped her onto the bed as a shriek of laughter left her lips. She propped herself up onto her elbows as she laid there looking up at him expectantly while letting her eyes adjust to the darkness of the room.

"Are you taking me to bed, Mr. Weasley?" Verity asked quietly with a smirk.

"You wish."

She laughed and pushed herself up so she was leaning on her hands now, she reached up and grabbed his wrist to gently pull him down to her. She wasn't being forceful and George could easily escape her grasp at any moment, but his better judgement was being hindered by several rounds of firewhisky and a feeling of emptiness in his heart he didn't know how else to fill. He honestly didn't intend for anything to happen between them, but the longer he looked at her the more his conscience was being buried by other thoughts.

He allowed her to pull him down so that he was now hovering over her laying beneath him with a hand on either side of her shoulders. Their faces were inches apart and he felt an unfamiliar magnetic pull to her lips that his brain was arguing with, his eyes were flicking between her eyes and her lips, as if weighing all his options.

"Kiss me." she whispered, he could feel her breath on his skin.

The sound of those words seemed to silence any argument his brain was trying to make as he immediately leaned down and obeyed her command. Her lips were warm and soft, but there wasn't fireworks when their lips met. Instead there was a warmth that rushed through their entire bodies as if they had both just taken another shot of firewhisky the moment they had closed the space between them. 

She parted her lips slightly, as if granting him permission to deepen the kiss as he lowered his body onto hers. Her hands wrapped around the back of his neck and her fingers found their way to his hair, tugging lightly. The taste of alochol was still on her tongue and George was sure that she was making him more drunk with each passing second.

As he pulled away to catch his breath he met Verity's eyes and the sight of her seemed to sober him up almost immediately. Quickly, he pushed himself off of her as she watched him with confusion in her eyes. He ran a hand through his hair and started pacing around his room contemplating what could have happened between them if they had kept going.

"What are we doing, Ver?"

She propped herself on her elbows once again and watched him as he walked back and forth in the dark, "It's okay, George."

"It's not okay. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have kissed you."

"But, I asked you to." she whispered, trying to reassure him.

"We've been drinking, we would hate ourselves in the morning if we kept going."

Verity was fully sitting up on the bed now, his words seemed to almost be sobering her up as well. She rested her hands in her lap and looked down at them, twiddling her thumbs. He sat in the chair near the window, deliberately keeping distance between them.

"I'm not coping well, Ver. I don't need to drag you down with me."

She looked up at him, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm a broken man. I can't fix my problems by being reckless."

"You're not broken." she rolled her eyes at him, "Look, I put us in this situation. I'm sorry."

"No you didn't, Ver, I carried you in here, I kissed you I- I just don't want to hurt you. We should just forget it happened."

"Okay" she said quietly, as the embarrassment of the situation began to sink in.

George stood up from the chair, "You can sleep in here, I'll go to the couch. We can talk more in the morning."

-

In the morning George brewed two cups of tea, one for himself and the other for Verity. He waited patiently for her to wake up, if her head was pounding as hard as his was, the last thing he'd want to do is interrupt her sleep. While he was typically a morning person, when he had a hangover he usually liked to have an extra hour or two of sleep, but sleeping on the couch simply wouldn't allow that. It was incredibly uncomfortable and not at all ideal for a 6' 3" man to lay on all night.

A little while later Verity emerged from George's room dressed in the same clothes she was wearing the night before. The sight of her made George feel guilty for a plethora of reasons, but mostly in that moment he felt bad for not offering some of his clothes for her to sleep in, but that was the last thing on his mind the night before.

"Morning, I made tea." he said, gesturing for her to sit across from him.

She sat down silently, avoiding his eyes. He could tell she was feeling embarrassed, and honestly he was feeling that way as well, but he knew they had to talk about it as uncomfortable as it would be. They both silently took sips of their tea for a while as George was trying to figure out exactly how he wanted to broach the conversation.

"Listen, Ver. I'm really sorry about last night. You're the only person that hasn't treated me differently since Fred died and I really don't want to lose that. I shouldn't have kissed you, it's like I was trying to use your affection to make myself feel better. You deserve better than that, better than me."

"How do you feel about me?" she asked bluntly.

"What?" George asked, taken aback by the suddenness of the question.

"Just answer the question."

"Well, I- I mean, you're my _friend_. Always have been, always will be."

She nodded and set down her tea, meeting his eyes with an intense look, she wanted to make sure he was taking in every word she spoke, "I feel the same way, I don't have any romantic feelings towards you, George. So you're not going to lose my friendship. I regret drunkenly throwing myself at you, I shouldn't have put you in that situation with everything going on. It was my fault even if you tell me a million times that it wasn't."

"Well, I probably _will_ tell you a million times that it wasn't."

"We can have this argument for the rest of our lives, but the truth is it's just a good thing we didn't go further. You were right when you said you couldn't make yourself feel better that way." she said glancing up at him.

"Right." he mumbled, shifting awkwardly in his seat at her comment.

"Look, we can pretend nothing happened if you promise me you won't go out getting drunk and sleeping around every weekend." she said with a smirk.

"Oh Merlin, Ver. Is that what you really think of me now?"

"No of course not, I'm just giving you shit. But next time you're feeling sad, why don't we discuss how you're feeling over a pizza instead of a bottle of wine in the future?"

"Sounds like a plan."


End file.
